The Organic Synthesis Program is supporting the research of Dr. Keith S. Kyler of the Department of Chemistry at the University of Miami. This research will lead to the harnessing of biochemical reactions as new tools in the synthesis of complex molecules by mild and possibly nonpolluting processes. It has considerable potential to produce the new chemicals needed in modern agriculture and medicine. The development of new enzymatic methods for the preparative-scale asymmetric synthesis will be undertaken for biologically important organic compounds. New applications of an enzymatic method for the synthesis of steroids will be undertaken using the sterol cyclase from microbial sources, and demonstrate the use of this enzymic method for preparing valuable lanosterol, cholesterol, and cycloartenol steroids. Additionally, new enzymatic technologies will be developed for: (1) the chiral oxidation of pentadienyl glutarates using soybean lipoxygenase as a method for the asymmetric hydroxylation of unsaturated alcohols; and (2) the enzymatic reduction of imino esters using dehydrogenases as a new approach to asymmetric syntheses of alkaloids. Lastly, a study will be made into the use of synthetic peptide duplexes to function as synthetic pseudo-enzymes (SPEs) displaying molecular recognition properties of natural enzymes.
