Design of an in vitro biocatalytic cascade for the manufacture of islatravir

We report an in vitro biocatalytic cascade synthesis of the investigational HIV treatment islatravir. Five enzymes were engineered through directed evolution to act on non-natural substrates. These were combined with four auxiliary enzymes to construct islatravir from simple building blocks in a three-step biocatalytic cascade. The overall synthesis requires fewer than half the number of steps of the previously reported routes.
Source: ScienceNOW - Category: Science Authors: Tags: Chemistry reports Source Type: news