Dear Colleagues,

Cascades involving enzymes have recently become a thoroughly-investigated field. Reasons might be manifold, such as (i) the possibility of combining different types of reactions, which could not be combined in classical chemistry, (ii) the chance to prepare unstable or toxic intermediates, which are directly consumed in a subsequent step, or (iii) the option to shift the equilibrium of a reaction by removing the co(product), or (iv) simply circumventing tedious work-up of intermediates, thereby saving on reagents, solvents, time, and money. Furthermore, connecting cascades to metabolism allows to exploit metabolic intermediates or to funnel them to new products. Additionally, the elegance of creating new efficient tools for synthesis might be a driving force.

The topic encompasses cascades involving exclusively enzymes, as well as cascades combining enzymes with metal- or organocatalysis. The enzymes may be used, for instance, as isolated enzymes, as crude cell-free extract, as immobilized enzyme, or as (living) microbial cells (metabolic engineering). Here, we define a cascade as the combination of at least two chemical steps in a single reaction system without isolation of the intermediate(s). Therefore, the topic includes cascades where all steps are performed simultaneously in one pot, as well as cascades where the reaction steps are performed in a sequential manner, but still in one pot. Furthermore, cascades in flow are also of special interest.

The aim of this Special Issue is to cover promising, recent research, and novel trends in the fields of enzymatic/biocatalytic cascades, performed simultaneously (including metabolic engineering), in a sequential mode or in flow.

Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Kroutil
Guest Editor

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