The use of methane, the lightest hydrocarbon and primary component of natural gas, as a source for fine chemicals production remains an appealing goal on scientific, economic and environmental grounds (1-4). Transition metal catalyzed C-H bond activation is a promising approach to achieve functionalization of the strong and relatively inert C-H bonds of alkanes more generally. In one possible scenario, these reactions proceed by metal-promoted C-H bond oxidative cleavage followed by insertion of a suitable X group into the M-C bond and release of the functionalized product by means of reductive elimination of the C-X-H unit (5). Individual reaction steps for this and related catalytic cycles have been widely reported (6), but a major challenge has been that removal of the functionalized fragments from the metal coordination sphere is often unfavorable, due to the robustness of the M-C bonds. Only FINAL VERSION ACCEPTED
Biocatalysis over the past few years has matured into an essential tool for modern, cost effective and sustainable pharmaceutical manufacturing. While some reaction classes are well established, and may even be the option of first intent, other more recently discovered enzyme classes are being rapidly developed both in academia and industry. Notwithstanding this, there are further promising enzymes that require further investment and investigation to allow their future industrial use. We here outline GSK's perspective on the current status of biocatalysis for pharmaceutical manufacturing and provide our views on areas of significant potential.
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