L-Proline is a powerful organocatalyst widely applied in asymmetric synthesis due to its secondary amine functionality, however, in proteins, this functional group is locked in peptide bonds, rendering proline catalytically inactive. Here, the authors engineer the nonenzymatic protein scaffold LmrR into a new-tonature biocatalyst by exposing its native L-proline residue at the N-terminus to catalyze enantioselective aldol reactions.
- Haofan Lu
- Wan-Qiu Liu
- Jian Li
