Chemoenzymatic synthesis of natural products using plant biocatalysts

Many small-molecule chemicals from plants display extraordinarily complex structures and potent bioactivities with significant pharmacological and industrial implications. While the medicinal and economic relevance of plants' bioactive compounds is widely recognized, their industrial-scale chemical synthesis for distribution and development of new derivatives is hampered by challenges associated with their structural complexity. Extraction from the native plants is usually not viable due to the chemicals' low natural abundance, and the plants’ sub-optimal growing conditions due to climate change and the destruction of natural habitats. All of these challenges ultimately highlight the need to expand the (bio)chemical toolbox with strategies that support continuous discovery and sustainable production of relevant chemicals. This article highlights some of the most recent discoveries of plant-derived biocatalysts and how they pave the way for more sustainable and greener approaches to produce chemicals with unmatched complexity and applications.