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Biocatalysis

Artificial boron enzymes

Nature Chemical Biology volume 20, pages 1106–1107 (2024)Cite this article

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Boron is a common element found in various minerals; however, it is not used in life-creating machinery in nature. In a new study, boron enzymes have been created by introducing a boronic acid-containing non-canonical amino acid into an artificial enzyme scaffold. Further development via directed evolution enabled the selection of new-to-nature stereoselective chemistry.

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Fig. 1: Artificial boron enzyme-catalyzed kinetic resolution of α-hydroxyketones via oximation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA

    Xiao-Wang Chen, Zhiyu Bo & Yang Yang

  2. Biomolecular Science and Engineering (BMSE) Program, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA

    Yang Yang

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  1. Xiao-Wang Chen
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  2. Zhiyu Bo
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  3. Yang Yang
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Correspondence to Yang Yang.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Chen, XW., Bo, Z. & Yang, Y. Artificial boron enzymes. Nat Chem Biol 20, 1106–1107 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41589-024-01707-0

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