Covering the recent development in enzymatic organic synthesis, this text focuses on the use of isolated enzymes. It includes a discussion of the characteristics of enzymes as catalysts and different types of chemical transformations.

Organic Synthesis Using Biocatalysis provides a concise background on the application of biocatalysis for the synthesis of organic compounds, including the important biocatalytic reactions and application of biocatalysis for the synthesis of organic compounds in pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical areas. The book provides recipes for carrying out various biocatalytic reactions, helping both newcomers and non-experts use these methodologies. It is written by experts in their fields, and provides both a current status and future prospects of biocatalysis in the synthesis of organic molecules. - Provides a concise background of the application of biocatalysis for the synthesis of organic compounds - Expert contributors present recipes for carrying out biocatalytic reactions, including subject worthy discussions on biocatalysis in organic synthesis, biocatalysis for selective organic transformation, enzymes as catalysis for organic synthesis, biocatalysis in Industry, including pharmaceuticals, and more - Contains detailed, separate chapters that describe the application of biocatalysis

Authored by one of the world's leading organic chemists, this authoritative reference provides an overview of basic strategies in directed evolution and introduces common gene mutagenesis, screening and selection methods. Throughout the text, emphasis is placed on methodology development to maximize efficiency, reliability and speed of the experiments and to provide guidelines for efficient protein engineering. Professor Reetz highlights the application of directed evolution experiments to address limitations in the field of enzyme selectivity, substrate scope, activity and robustness. He critically reviews recent developments and case studies, takes a look at future applications in the field of organic synthesis, and concludes with lessons learned from previous experiments.

The Novartis Foundation Series is a popular collection of the proceedings from Novartis Foundation Symposia, in which groups of leading scientists from a range of topics across biology, chemistry and medicine assembled to present papers and discuss results. The Novartis Foundation, originally known as the Ciba Foundation, is well known to scientists and clinicians around the world.

The outlook of organic synthesis has changed many times during its tractable history. The initial focus on the synthesis of substances typical of living matter, exemplified by the first examples of organic chemistry through the synthesis of urea from inorganic substances by Liebig, was accepted as the birth of organic chemistry, and thus also of organic synthesis. Although the early developments in organic synthesis closely followed the pursuit of molecules typical in nature, towards the end of the 19th century, societal pressures placed higher demands on chemical methods appropriate for the emerging age of industrialization. This led to vast amounts of information being generated through the discovery of synthetic reactions, spectroscopic techniques and reaction mechanisms. The basic organic functional group transformations were discovered and improved during the early part of this century. Reaction mechanisms were elucidated at a growing pace, and extremely powerful spectroscopic tools, such as infrared, nuclear magnetic resonance and mass spectrometry were introduced as everyday tools for a practising organic chemist. By the 1950s, many practitioners were ready to agree that almost every molecule could be syn thesized. Some difficult stereochemical problems were exceptions; for example Woodward concluded that erythromycin was a "hopelessly complex target". This frustration led to a hectic phase of development of new and increasingly more ingenious protecting group strategies and functional group transformations, and also saw the emergence of asymmetric synthesis.