Chemistry seminar: Daniele Castagnolo

Daniele Castagnolo obtained his Ph.D. in medicinal chemistry at the University of Siena (Italy) in 2006 under the supervision of Prof. Maurizio Botta, followed by postdoctoral research in organic chemistry at the Helsinki University of Technology (Finland) with Prof. Petri Pihko, the University of Siena, and the University of Manchester (UK) with Prof. Jonathan Clayden. He began his independent career at Northumbria University Newcastle in 2012, moved to King’s College London in 2015, and since 2022 he is based at UCL where he is now Professor of Sustainable Chemistry (organic) at the Department of Chemistry. His research group is based at the Manufacturing Futures Lab (MFL) in the UCL East Campus.
His research focuses on biocatalysis as a tool for organic synthesis, with particular emphasis on developing biocatalytic methodologies for the synthesis of chemicals and pharmaceuticals, as well as on the discovery and engineering of new enzymes to enable challenging and sustainable synthetic transformations.

Event information

Event date
-
Event type
Public lectures, seminars and round tables
Event language
English
Event organizer
Department of Chemistry
Event payment
Free of charge
Event location category
Ylistönrinne
KEM2

BIOCATALYSIS AND CHEMO-ENZYMATIC CASCADES: EXPANDING THE TOOLBOX OF ORGANIC SYNTHESIS

Daniele Castagnolo 
a: Department of Chemistry, University College London, Marshgate Building, Manufacturing Futures Lab, 7 Sidings Street,
E20 2AE London, United Kingdom.
d.castagnolo@ucl.ac.uk

Biocatalysis, namely the use of natural enzymes for the synthesis of organic compounds, represents one of the greenest and most powerful technologies for the sustainable manufacture of fine chemicals and active pharmaceutical ingredients. Over the past decade, its impact in both academia and the pharmaceutical industry has grown exponentially, driven by the outstanding chemo-, regio- and stereoselectivity of enzymes and their compatibility with mild and environmentally benign processes. At the Manufacturing Futures Lab (MFL), our research group focuses on the development of green, sustainable and stereoselective synthetic methodologies for the preparation of chemicals and advanced building blocks by replacing toxic and hazardous reagents with biocatalysts. These approaches enable efficient transformations under mild conditions, fully aligned with the Principles of Green Chemistry. This presentation will highlight recent advances from our laboratory in the biocatalytic synthesis of chiral compounds bearing stereogenic centres at C–O and C–S bonds, as well as in the enzymatic construction of new C–C bonds in cyclopropanes. Biocatalytic and chemoenzymatic cascades for the synthesis of hydroxysulfide derivatives with excellent yields and stereoselectivity will be presented, was well as engineered lactonase biocatalysts able to provide enantiopure alpha-thio-carboxylic acids via dynamic kinetic resolution of gamma-thiolactones. Cyclopropane fatty acid synthase (CFAS) biocatalysts able to catalyse the stereoselective cyclopropanation of lipid substrates through formation of new C-C bonds will be presented. Finally, the integration of mechanochemistry and biocatalysis in mechano-enzymatic transformations for the preparation of drug scaffolds and building blocks will be discussed.

 

Daniel Castagnolo



References
[1] F. Zhao, K. Lauder, S. Liu, J. D. Finnigan, S. B. R. Charnock, S. J. Charnock, D. Castagnolo Angew. Chem., Int. Ed.
2022, 61, e202202363
[2] J. Wu, M. Crotti, I. Bassanini, M. Hassankalhori, E. E. Ferrandi, F. Sancho, D. Monti, D. Castagnolo Angew. Chem., Int.
Ed. 2025, 64, e202505032
[3] F. Zhao, A. Mattana, R. Alam, S. L. Montgomery, A. Pandya, F. Manetti, B. Dominguez, D. Castagnolo Nat. Commun.
2024, 15, 8332
[4] I. Omar, M. Crotti, C. Li, K. Pisak, et al. Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. 2024, 63, e202403493
 

Add to calendar