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Science 6 December 2002:
Vol. 298. no. 5600, pp. 1904 - 1905
DOI: 10.1126/science.1076547
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Perspectives

CHEMISTRY:
The Simplest "Enzyme"

Mohammad Movassaghi and Eric N. Jacobsen

Chemists trying to emulate the efficiency and specificity of enzyme catalysis have focused most of their attention on organometallic catalysts. In their Perspective, Movassaghi and Jacobsen turn the spotlight on a purely organic molecule that is showing surprising versatility and specificity: the natural amino acid proline. This tiny "enzyme" shows how small a highly active and selective catalyst can be.

The authors are in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA. E-mail: jacobsen{at}chemistry. harvard.edu

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
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Two-Step Synthesis of Carbohydrates by Selective Aldol Reactions.
A. B. Northrup and D. W. C. MacMillan (2004)
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Asymmetric Catalysis Special Feature Part II: New mechanistic studies on the proline-catalyzed aldol reaction.
B. List, L. Hoang, and H. J. Martin (2004)
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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)