This Mini-Review Article outlines recent advances in
the study
of local electric field (LEF) governed enzyme catalysis and the application
of the LEF principle in synthetic catalyst design. We start by discussing
the electrostatics principles that drive enzyme catalysis, and its
experimental verifications through vibrational Stark spectroscopy.
Subsequently, we describe aspects of LEFs other than catalysis, i.e.,
induction of mechanistic crossovers, among others. Here, we focus
on the early work done using computational tools, along with some
recent contributions. Following an in-depth discussion of the role
of LEFs in enzyme catalysis, we then highlight some recent works on
designed local electric fields (D-LEF) and their applications in organic
synthesis. Subsequently, we turn to D-LEFs in synthetic enzymes and
supramolecular systems (cf. the work by the Head-Gordon group). We
end by discussing some of the software packages that have been developed
to analyze local electric fields computationally. Overall, the present
Mini-Review Article paints an insightful picture of the current state
of the art using LEF in enzyme catalysis and its application for further
bioengineering and synthetic organic frameworks in a broad perspective.