How is it that no one questions the medium in which bio-catalysis has been done by Nature for hundreds of millions of years, and continues to this day: water. And yet, for a mere 150-200 years, modern organic chemistry has developed in organic solvents, use of which we now know is both responsible for generating enormous amounts of organic waste, and also for depleting our limited petroleum reserves. Nonetheless, water continues to be perceived, mistakenly, as the enemy in organic chemistry.1 It is long overdue for organic chemistry to follow in the footsteps of Nature, and bio-catalysis, using water as the common reaction medium. Today, this technology is already available, and the potential payoffs in terms of environmental benefits, as well as pot and time economies, are enormous. This presentation, therefore, will feature examples of several chemo- and bio-catalyzed reactions that can not only be done in water, but can be used in various arrangements within 1-pot processes. These include 2-, 3-, 4-, and 5-step sequences that serve as a basis for eliminating todays use of terms such as “bio-catalysis” and “chemo-catalysis”; using water in which to do both, they become just…”catalysis.” Thus, synthetic chemistry in water that introduces reagents in 1-pot sequences involving enzymes such as lipase, ene-reductase, keto-reductase, and transaminase, along with Pd-catalyzed cross-couplings, SNAr reactions, cyanations, hydrogenations, etc., all enabled by the presence of nanomicellar arrays,2 will be discussed. The examples below are illustrative of the (unlimited) possibilities for the future of synthesis.

Environmentally responsible synthetic organic chemistry: When chemo-catalysis meets bio-catalysis, in water

ACS Fall 2021

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