Current Organic Chemistry - Volume 18, Issue 8, 2014

General molecular organization of living beings is determined by the flow of energy through the Earth's surface, and is characterized by a limited set of small molecules and polymers, which dominates their chemical constitution. In the 21th century, biology, being previously dominant analytical science has reached a point of being the science of synthesis i.e. synthetic biology. In this perspective, I will argue that the ut Read More

Chemical synthesis of small molecules is well established and enzyme-mediated chemical synthesis is a growing area, with great potential to be expanded in the future. The recombinant production of proteins has become routine. But molecules of intermediate size remain generally much more difficult to be produced in a sustainable way. Oligopeptides, oligosaccharides and oligonucleotides are three areas orphaned by bio Read More

Conjugate vaccines have been the most successful way to prevent and control deadly bacterial infections; however their production is complex and tedious. The manufacturing process of these large molecules consists of a biological production and extraction of polysaccharide antigen and protein carrier and its chemical conjugation. Herein a simplified manufacturing process is described where the conjugate vaccine is com Read More

Oligosaccharides and glycoconjugates find application in the food, feed, cosmetic and pharmaceutical industry, which makes glycosylation the target for development of new therapeutic agents, functional food ingredients and other valuable molecules. Unlike other biological molecules, the synthesis of carbohydrates is not template dependent, such that the design of a vast catalog of multifunctional glycostructures is potenti Read More

Enzyme-catalyzed mono- and oligosaccharide production is a prime example of the potential of multi-enzyme reaction systems, where the regio- and reaction selectivity of these biocatalysts allows the implementation of complex reaction cascades in one vessel where alternative approaches would need lengthy multi-vessel reaction sequences and protection group chemistry. However, this introduces as a new challenge the q Read More

Bioactive peptides are used in diagnostics and as therapeutic agents in a variety of diseases, as well as inhibitors of bacterial growth in food industry. Recent technological advances in delivery and formulation tools have resuscitated the field of peptide therapeutics, resulting in approx. 60 approved peptide drugs and an annual predicted growth rate of the market of approximately 10%. Whilst the majority of peptides are c Read More

Recent advances in coupling antibodies to potent cytotoxic drugs have resulted in stable delivery platforms with improved pharmacokinetics which spares patients from the debilitating systemic toxicity observed with traditional chemotherapy [1]. 5. In 2011 the FDA granted accelerated approval to Seattle Genetics Adcetris® (Bentuximab vedotin) and on Feb. 4th 2013 Health Canada approved the drug which uses a chimeric mon Read More

Compared with the conventional luminescent molecules, whose fluorescence is quenched once they aggregate, molecules with aggregation-induced emission (AIE) properties exhibit significantly enhanced emission in solid state or aggregates due to their unique molecular structures and stacking modes, showing potential applications in optoelectronic devices, biochemical sensors and bioimaging. Especially, AIE fluorophor Read More

Isoprenoids constitute the largest class of natural products with greater than 55,000 identified members. They play essential roles in maintaining proper cellular function leading to maintenance of human health, plant defense mechanisms against predators, and are often exploited for their beneficial properties in the pharmaceutical and nutraceutical industries. Most impressively, all known isoprenoids are derived from one Read More