The Synthetic Organic Program is supporting the research of Dr. Carl R. Johnson in the Department of Chemistry at Wayne State University. Studies designed to advance the applications of enzymes as catalysts in key steps of the synthesis of complex organic molecules will be the focus of the project. The proposed meso substrates for the enzymes, easily produced from starting materials such as cycloheptatriene, are densely funtionalized cyclic compounds. The enzymatic reactions will serve to unveil multiple chiral centers and result in compounds that should be useful building blocks for futher synthetic manipulation. Target molecules will include pancrastistatin, tetrahydrolipstatin and compounds related to amphotericin B. In order to recycle many of the enzymes of interest, an integral part of the study will involve the development of new general technology for the immobilization of enzymes based on a new polymer containing azlactone groups.
