Biomimetic Synthesis

A specialised branch of organic chemical synthesis that draws inspiration from biology is known as "biomimetic synthesis." The term covers both the testing of a "biogenetic hypothesis" (the proposed sequence of a biosynthesis in nature) through the execution of a series of reactions designed to parallel the proposed biosynthesis, as well as research programmes where a synthetic reaction or reactions are designed to mimic one or more known enzymatic transformations of an established biosynthetic pathway. Sir Robert Robinson's organic synthesis of the alkaloid tropinone is the first commonly reported instance of a biomimetic synthesis. A more recent example is the carbenium-mediated cyclization of an engineered linear polyene by E.J. Corey to produce a tetracyclic steroid ring system. This work built on Albert Eschenmoser and Gilbert Stork's studies of cationic cyclizations of linear polyenes as well as the extensive research of W.S. Johnson to define the conditions necessary to start and stop the cyclization as well as to stabilise the cationic carben When applied to a chemical transformation carried out in nature by a biocatalyst, synthetic organic or inorganic catalysts are said to be carrying out a biomimetic synthesis, and the design and characterisation of such catalytic systems is known as biomimetic chemistry.