What Is in a Biocatalyst?

An area often neglected by synthetic organic chemists beginning studies in biotransformations is the biocatalyst itself. As with homogeneous and heterogeneous metal-catalysed reactions, there is a vast opportunity for elegant process understanding and scale-up with biocatalysis. An understanding of the exact nature of the catalyst and the optimum way in which the catalyst should be presented to the reaction medium are crucial to the successful identification and scale-up of organic reactions catalysed by enzymes in aqueous and, especially, organic solvents.