Bioorganic Chemistry

Aim of the course Is to illustrate how the principles of mechanistic organic chemistry can be applied to the study of the reactions involved in metabolic processes. It provides knowledges about the fundamentals of enzymatic catalysis by illustrating the application of conceptual tools, experimental techniques and informatics tools to the study of enzyme-catalyzed reactions. Part of the course will be devoted to the use of enzymes for preparative purposes in organic synthesis.

Students will acquire knowledges about the most common enzymatic mechanisms used by Nature. Students will also be able to apply the already acquired knowledges in Organic Chemistry and the interdisciplinary tools from Bioorganic Chemistry in order to formulate hypothesis about an enzyme-catalyzed reaction and to propose experiments aimed at verifying the postulated hypotheses. Finally, students will acquire a general knowledge about the possible use of enzymes as catalysts in organic synthesis.