JACS Au. 2026 Jun 22;6(7):4014-4027. doi: 10.1021/jacsau.6c00535. eCollection 2026 Jul 27. ABSTRACT Selective C-H functionalization of small molecule leads is a powerful approach for efficient chemical space exploration and medicinal chemistry optimization. Here, we report a screening strategy for early- and late-stage chemoenzymatic oxidation of steroid-inspired compounds using a panel of P450BM3 variants. Late-stage oxidation…

JACS Au. 2026 Jul 14;6(7):4301-4309. doi: 10.1021/jacsau.6c00775. eCollection 2026 Jul 27. ABSTRACT Coacervate microdroplets accelerate reactions owing to either their interfacial electrical field or confined intracoacervate environment. The products yielded at both sites prefer to accumulate within the coacervates. This internal crowding disrupts local physicochemical conditions, challenging the stability of the coacervate to maintain reaction…

Adv Biochem Eng Biotechnol. 2026 Jul 30. doi: 10.1007/10_2026_340. Online ahead of print. ABSTRACT Diols represent a crucial class of bulk chemicals with extensive applications across the polymer, cosmetics, fuel, food, and pharmaceutical industries. Developing biological routes to produce diols from renewable feedstocks such as biomass and C1 substrates is of great significance for reducing…

Curr Opin Chem Biol. 2026 Jul 29;94:102728. doi: 10.1016/j.cbpa.2026.102728. Online ahead of print. ABSTRACT Sparked by innovations in generative artificial intelligence (AI), the field of protein design has undergone a paradigm shift with an explosion of new models for optimizing existing enzymes or creating them from scratch. After more than one decade of low success…

Adv Biochem Eng Biotechnol. 2026 Jul 30. doi: 10.1007/10_2026_339. Online ahead of print. ABSTRACT Unnatural chiral amino acids (UCAAs), including D-amino acids and noncanonical L-amino acids, are immensely valuable chiral chemicals, which are extensively applied in pharmaceuticals, materials, and fine chemicals. Biosynthesis of UCAAs by enzymes has emerged as a powerful, green, and highly efficient…

Hortic Res. 2026 Apr 6;13(8):uhag126. doi: 10.1093/hr/uhag126. eCollection 2026 Aug. ABSTRACT Agrobacterium-mediated transient transformation is a fundamental tool for plant research and molecular pharming, but its application is often limited by host immune responses, post-transcriptional gene silencing, and the lack of a robust, quantitative reporter for species beyond Nicotiana benthamiana. To address these challenges, we…

Chemistry. 2026 Jul 29:e71444. doi: 10.1002/chem.71444. Online ahead of print. ABSTRACT Biomolecular condensation offers a powerful strategy to create confined microenvironments for regulating chemical transformations; however, translating this concept into minimal small-molecule catalytic systems remains largely unexplored. Herein, we report an “all-nucleotide” platform that spontaneously condenses into hierarchically organized G-quadruplex (G4)-based supramolecular networks and hydrogels…

Chem Catal. 2024 Nov 21;4(11):101133. doi: 10.1016/j.checat.2024.101133. ABSTRACT Indolines are ubiquitous structural motifs occurring in pharmaceuticals and natural products. Here, we report a strategy for regio- and stereoselective C(sp 3 )-H functionalization of N-substituted indolines via carbene transfer chemistry mediated by engineered CYP119-based catalysts. These systems offer high enantioselectivity, high catalytic efficiency, as well as…

ACS Omega. 2026 Jun 27;11(27):40819-40829. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.6c04150. eCollection 2026 Jul 14. ABSTRACT In this work, a series of carboxylic esters bearing strong electron-withdrawing groups (e.g., -NO2) on the aromatic ring were designed. These activated esters undergo amidation with organic amines in aprotic solvents (e.g., acetonitrile) under mild conditions (room temperature, ambient pressure, and without any…