Evaluating Multienzyme Cascade Routes for Pharmaceutically Relevant Molecules

Abstract

The constant demand for sustainable approaches to pharmaceutical synthesis has thrived the enzyme catalysis (biocatalysis) field. The most sought‐after features like high specificity, environmentally benign, and biodegradable nature have rendered enzymatic processes predominantly eco‐friendly. Owing to these merits, biocatalysis is now being developed extensively to exploit their applications in designing alternate and sustainable synthetic routes for manufacturing pharmaceuticals, in line with green chemistry principles. Further, combining multiple enzymes in one‐pot is a highly efficient methodology as it eliminates intermediate isolation, shifts equilibrium in the forward direction, and proceeds in ambient aqueous conditions. This review highlights the importance of recently developed multienzyme cascade synthesis of pharmaceutically important bioactive molecules by relating them with their well‐known chemical route.