Integrating enzymes with photoredox catalysis for conversion of nitriles into fluorinated products
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Fluorinated molecules are widely used as pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals and as various functional materials. Traditional synthetic methods for introducing fluorine substituents into organic molecules involve deleterious chemicals and lack selectivity. Enzymes have evolved in nature which can halogenate a diverse range of substrates with high selectivity under aqueous conditions, using benign inorganic halides as the halogen source. Although there are many halogenase enzymes that can chlorinate or brominate diverse substrates, only one fluorinase enzyme has been discovered to date that produces a single fluorinated adenosine derivative in nature. Herein, we complement the lack of biocatalytic fluorination protocols and address the need for cleaner and more selective fluorination methods by merging chemo and biocatalysis to selectively fluorinate compounds in a single integrated reaction. Our approach relies on combining nitrilase enzymes with photoredox catalysis to transform cheap and abundant organonitrile compounds into highly sought‐after fluorinated, trifluoromethylated, and perfluoroalkylated compounds.
Date Issued
2026-01-28
Date Acceptance
2025-02-20
Citation
ChemCatChem, 2026, 18 (2)
ISSN
1867-3880
Publisher
Wiley
Journal / Book Title
ChemCatChem
Volume
18
Issue
2
Copyright Statement
© 2025 The Author(s). ChemCatChem published by Wiley-VCH GmbH This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
License URL
Identifier
10.1002/cctc.202500240
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
e202500240
Date Publish Online
2025-02-20