The Aim of Action D25 was to develop new biocatalytic reactions with special emphasis on stereoselectivity and environmentally-friendly processes. This objective was pursued by providing new biocatalysts and new biocatalytic processes. In addition to chemists, enzymologists and biologists, Action D25 has also attracted industrial research groups interested in the production of enantiopure chiral building blocks that could find applications in the pharmaceutical industry. Among the achievements of this Action are: * The preparation of a combinatorial library of glycosidase inhibitors that could be further extended and applied e.g., in the modification of natural products with biological activities. * Screening for new nitrile- and amide-hydrolysing microorganisms and the subsequent biochemical characterisation of the enzymes involved. The examination of these biocatalysts for biotransformations of industrially relevant compounds suggested new potential applications of nitrile-/amide-hydrolysing enzymes, such as the synthesis of N-substituted B-amino acids or the synthesis of N-acyl-D-mannosamines, amino sugars with immunomodulatory and antiviral properties. * The development of new synthetic transformations based on aldolase antibodies, which provide reactivities not achieved by naturally occurring enzymes. * Identification of a large number of members of the CYP153 enzyme family in A-, B-, and γ-Proteobacteria and the high-(G+C) Gram-positives. These enzymes are useful biocatalysts for the production of a wide range of alcohols and epoxides from linear, alicyclic and aromatic compounds, and some were successfully applied for the regio- and stereoselective hydroxylation of N-substituted pyrrolidines and 2-pyrrolidinones to prepare the corresponding chiral alcohols, with high activity and no side reaction. * The discovery of several novel fungal and bacterial oxidases acting on alcohols and/or amines. Action D25 comprised scientific teams belonging to 22 different countries. The achievements of this Action have been disseminated through several Action-organised workshops, presentations at other international conferences, the organisation of a Training School and the publication of a large number of research articles in highly-reputed journals.
