Research

Life is supported by chemical reactions catalyzed by enzymes, and the high substrate recognition and selectivity of enzymes have long served as a model for organic synthetic chemists. However, the substrates and reactions that enzymes catalyze are limited to those necessary for life processes, and when enzymes are regarded as synthetic catalysts, their versatility is limited. On the other hand, artificial catalysts act on a wide range of substrates, but there are some that are difficult to achieve, such as regioselectivity and chemoselectivity. Therefore, we propose the use of peptides as catalysts that combine the advantages of both, and are developing novel selective catalysts. We are also developing diverse synthetic methods inspired by biosynthesis.

Highly selective peptide organocatalysts :

Enzymes catalyze reactions with high efficiency and high selectivity under mild conditions in water based on their three dimensional molecular structures. By mimicking such a machinery, we are developing peptide catalysts having specific secondary structures with focusing on regio- or chemoselectivity.

Synthesis of biologically-active compounds by mimicking biosynthetic pathways:

Living organisms make a variety of sevondary metabolites in which many drug / drug candidate molecules are included. Such compounds have already been chemically synthesized, however, the synthetic methods often suffer from problems in safety, cost, and environmental impact. We are developing general synthetic methods for such compounds based on biosynthetic mechanisms.

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