Our group has been developing new classes of artificial metalloenzymes containing synthetic cofactors possessing abiotic metal centers to catalyze unnatural reactions. In concert with this effort, we have sought to identify unnatural reactions catalyzed by natural enzymes that occur through unusual abiotic intermediates. In both cases, we have developed methods to conduct such reactions within <i>E. coli</i> cells, and this talk will include results on the assembly of artificial metalloenzymes in the cytoplasm of <i>E. coli</i> to accelerate directed evolution and to combine these reactions with heterologous biosynthetic pathways to create engineered microorganisms that produce unnatural products from a synergy between synthetic biology and synthetic chemistry.

Organometallic catalysis in cells: From artificial enzymes to artificial biosynthesis

ACS Spring 2022

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