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An engineered enzyme that enables the stereoconvergent alkylation of alkene mixtures

An engineered ‘carbene transferase’ is shown to convert both Z and E isomers of silyl enol ethers in a stereoconvergent manner, yielding chiral α-branched ketones with high efficiency and excellent selectivity. This biocatalyst offers an efficient and high-yield method to functionalize these alkene mixtures.

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Fig. 1: A diastereomer-differentiating enzyme was engineered to perform stereoconvergent alkylation.

References

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This is a summary of: Mao, R. et al. Biocatalytic, stereoconvergent alkylation of (Z/E)-trisubstituted silyl enol ethers. Nat. Synth. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44160-023-00431-2 (2023).

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An engineered enzyme that enables the stereoconvergent alkylation of alkene mixtures. Nat. Synth 3, 160–161 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44160-023-00446-9

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