Currently, the power and usefulness of biocatalysis in organic synthesis is undeniable, mainly due to the very high enantiomeric excess reached using enzymes, in an attempt to emulate natural processes. However, the use of isolated enzymes has some significant drawbacks, the most important of which is cost. The use of whole cells has emerged as a useful strategy with several advantages over isolated enzymes; for this reason, modern research in this field is increasing, and various reports have been published recently. This review surveys the most recent developments in the enantioselective reduction of carbon-carbon double bonds and prochiral ketones and the oxidation of prochiral sulfides using whole cells as biocatalytic systems.
Iron is an indispensable element for the development of almost all living things, and its acquisition is a key process for organisms. However, the low solubility of Fe3+ in aqueous systems causes its reduced bioavailability. Thus, organisms confronted with low iron availability have developed several iron scavenging strategies, and one of these ways is to use low molecular‐weight organic molecules, which are specific ferric ion chelators called siderophores. These compounds exhibit an extremely high affinity and specificity for Fe3+ and are produced and secreted by bacteria, fungi, and plants. Recently, siderophores have attracted much attention due to their applications in areas such as microbial ecology, specific crop production, detoxification of heavy metal‐contaminated samples, biodetection of metals, and the selective delivery of antibiotics to resistant bacterial strains. Nevertheless, the limited supply of these natural products has been an obstacle that needs to be overcome. This review provides an overview of the contemporary developments in the total synthesis of naturally occurring siderophores during the last two decades.
The synthesis of the fully protected peptide, polyketide and alkaloid fragments of anachelin H is presented, using an alternative approach to previously reported synthesis and based on naturally occurring amino acids as sources of asymmetry.
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