Abstract

The synthesis of natural products by living organisms is extremely rational and efficient. It was thought that if the production system could be artificially controlled, natural products with complex chemical structures could be synthesized in a single process and in high yield, while reducing the use of depletable resources. 

Against this background, our group has established an innovative biosynthetic method using biocatalysis and demonstrated that it is a versatile synthetic method superior to chemical synthesis. Its features can be summarized as 1) the ability to elucidate substrates/products/enzymes in all steps, 2) high yields up to 600 mg/L, and 3) versatile usage to synthesize versatility in the synthesis of all types of natural products. The fact that more than 300 natural products have been biosynthesized in only 10 years shows the importance of this method. These include dozens of novel natural products, making it an effective method for exploring new natural products. 

In the future, we will also develop our research in terms of "how to utilize the created natural products". We would also like to synthesize new functional molecules based on natural products and clarify the role of natural products in nature.

Keywords

Natural products, Total biosynthesis, Environmental benign

Skills learned

Isolation and structure determination of natural products.

Cloning, Transformation

Publications

Melleolides：Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2023, 62, e202308881.

Phomoidride：J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2022, 144, 20998–21004.

Phialotide：Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2021, 60, 23403-23411.

Lolitrem：Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2020, 59, 17996-18002.