Enzyme-Catalyzed Synthesis of Polyamides and Polypeptides

Three general approaches involving isolated enzymes have been used for polyamide or polypeptide synthesis. The first approach uses protease and other proteolytic enzymes. The second approach uses lipases and esterases. These two approaches account for most of the papers in the literature. The proteases and the lipases used tend to have relatively broad substrate specificity and can be applied to the synthesis of different types of polyamides and polypeptides. The third approach includes enzymes other than proteases and lipases. For example, in protein synthesis there has been much research into the use of cell-free extracts to produce proteins in vivo. In a few cases, the enzyme(s) responsible for the synthesis have been isolated and used to produce the same or similar proteins in vitro. Selected publications have been included in this review. 

Biocatalysis in Polymer Chemistry. Edited by Katja Loos 

Copyright 2011 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH Co. KGaA, Weinheim 

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In the literature a majority of the publications involving enzyme-catalyzed synthesis of polypeptides and polyamides use proteases and related proteolytic enzymes. The data indicate that proteases are good catalysts for the synthesis of oligomers. For high-molecular-weight polymers, the use of protease is more difficult and less reported. 

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