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Updated: Feb 6, 2026

Enzymatic Cascade Reactions for the Synthesis of Chiral Amino Alcohols from L-lysine

Enzymatic Cascade Reactions for the Synthesis of Chiral Amino Alcohols from L-lysine

Published on: February 16, 2018

Enzymatic Cascade Reactions in Biosynthesis.

Christopher T Walsh¹, Bradley S Moore^2,3

¹Stanford University Chemistry, Engineering, and Medicine for Human Health (CheM-H), Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA.

Angewandte Chemie (International Ed. in English)

|August 30, 2018

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Enzymes catalyze cascade reactions using nucleophilic, electrophilic, pericyclic, and radical mechanisms. Radical cascades are initiated by oxygen-dependent iron enzymes or anaerobic radical SAM enzymes.

Keywords:

electrophilic cascades natural products nucleophilic cascades pericyclic cascades radical cascades

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Last Updated: Feb 6, 2026

Enzymatic Cascade Reactions for the Synthesis of Chiral Amino Alcohols from L-lysine

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Published on: February 16, 2018

Biosynthesis of a Flavonol from a Flavanone by Establishing a One-pot Bienzymatic Cascade

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Hot Biological Catalysis: Isothermal Titration Calorimetry to Characterize Enzymatic Reactions

Hot Biological Catalysis: Isothermal Titration Calorimetry to Characterize Enzymatic Reactions

Published on: April 4, 2014

Area of Science:

Biochemistry
Organic Chemistry
Enzymology

Background:

Enzyme-catalyzed cascade reactions are fundamental to biosynthesis.
Synthetic chemists categorize cascade reactions mechanistically.
A unified understanding of enzymatic and synthetic cascade chemistry is needed.

Purpose of the Study:

To compare enzymatic cascade reactions with synthetic mechanistic categorizations.
To delineate common underlying chemical principles.
To categorize enzymatic radical cascade initiation.

Main Methods:

Review and analysis of known enzyme-catalyzed cascade reactions.
Classification based on reaction mechanisms (nucleophilic, electrophilic, pericyclic, radical).
Focus on radical cascade initiation by oxygen-dependent and anaerobic enzymes.

Main Results:

Identified four mechanistic categories for enzymatic cascades.
Described two distinct enzyme classes generating radical cascades.
Characterized iron-based "thwarted oxygenases" using O2 for C-H bond homolysis.
Characterized radical SAM enzymes using S-adenosylmethionine for C-H bond homolysis.

Conclusions:

Enzymatic cascades can be classified by mechanistic parallels to synthetic chemistry.
Radical cascade initiation by enzymes occurs via distinct oxygen-dependent and anaerobic pathways.
This classification provides a framework for understanding diverse enzyme functions.