Organic Synthesis with Lyases

Abstract

Lyases are enzymes that catalyze the bond generation and the bond breaking with the addition or removal of groups from their substrates. Enzyme-catalyzed stereoselective reactions forming new carbon–carbon bonds are of utmost important in synthetic organic chemistry. Ammonia lyases are a class of enzymes capable of catalyzing the reversible cleavage of carbon–nitrogen bonds, typically α-amino acids, to release ammonia and corresponding α,β-unsaturated or cyclic derivatives without employing hydrolysis or oxidation mechanism. Enzymes that catalyze the cleavage of a carbon–sulfur bond by means other than hydrolysis or oxidation are carbon–sulfur lyases (C–S lyases). Specifically, carbon–sulfur bond lyases are pyridoxal-5'-phosphate-dependent enzyme, which catalyze the elimination reactions of C–S bond in various sulfur-containing amino acids to yield corresponding sulfur-containing molecules, α-keto acid, and ammonia.