Organic synthesis laccases

The biotechnological potential of laccases—working with air and producing water as sole by-product—has led to applications from the textile to the pulp and paper industries, from food applications to bioremediation, as well as their use in organic synthesis. 

Burton, S. G. (2003). Laccases and phenol oxidases in organic synthesis—A review. Curr. Org. Geochem. 7,1317-1331. 

C., Plou, F.)., Ballesteros, A., and Alcalde, M. (2008) Engineering and applications of fungal laccases for organic synthesis. Microb. Cell Fact.,... 

Gitsov et al 10) produced a nanoreactor fi om laccase and linear poly(ethylene oxide)-dendritic poly(benzyl ether) diblock copolymers. A notable feature of this system is the presence of hydrophobic dendritic pockets that increase the local concentration of water-insoluble organic compounds near the active site where they are oxidized. Li and Hsieh (77) employed a hydrogel fiber membrane, with a large surface area and improved organic solvent solubility in order to facilitate lipase reactions. He (72) grafted lipase onto silica particles, which permitted him to carry out synthesis of polyesters, polycarbonates, polyphosphates, and their copolymers at temperatures up to 150°C. 

Also laccases, oxidoreductases with a Cu atom in the active center, have been successfully applied to the synthesis of phenol polymers. For example, phenol and several derivatives were polymerized by laccase from Pycnoporus coccineus (PCL) in aqueous organic solvents to yield the corresponding polymers [149]. The same enzyme was used to produce PPO from syringic acid (79) and from 2,6-dimethylphenol. Laccase from Myceliophthore (MPL) was found to catalyze the polymerization of syringic acid to PPO [135-137]. Lac-... 

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