© Universität Bielefeld
Research
New catalytic reactions by directed enzyme evolution
Our research group combines methods from organic chemistry, enzymology and directed evolution to design, evolve, apply and understand new enzyme function. We aim to develop biocatalysts for synthetic organic chemistry catalyzing fundamental C-C, C-N and C-O bond formations that do not have a good catalytic solution. These new enzymes will be applied in synthesis, increase our understanding in enzymology and can expand the metabolism in living organisms.
Selected Publications
Engineered P450 enables direct arylalkene-to-ketone oxidation by accessing highly reactive carbocation intermediates
Gergel S, Soler J, Klein A, Schülke K, Hauer B, Garcia-Borràs M, Hammer SC
Nature Catalysis, 2023, 6, 606-617
News & Views: E. O'Reilly and M. Haarr Nature Catalysis, 2023, 6, 561-562
Highlighted by B. List and M. Brunen in Synfacts 2023, 19, 1030
Chiral alcohols from alkenes and water: Directed evolution of a styrene hydratase
Gajdoš M, Wagner J, Ospina F, Köhler A, Engqvist MKM, Hammer SC
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2023, 62, e202215093
Selective biocatalytic N-methylation of unsaturated heterocycles
Ospina F, Schülke KH, Soler J, Klein A, Prosenc B, Garcia-Borràs M, Hammer SC
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2022, 61, e202213056
Selected as VIP paper by Angewandte Chemie
Highlighted by B. List and M. Turberg in Synfacts 2023, 19, 0080
Enzymatic control over reactive intermediates enables direct oxidation of alkenes to carbonyls by a P450 iron-oxo species
Soler J, Gergel S, Klaus C, Hammer SC, Garcia-Borràs M
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2022, 144, 15954-15968
Substrate profiling of anion methyltransferases for promiscuous synthesis of S-adenosylmethionine analogs from haloalkanes
Schülke KH, Ospina F, Hörnschemeyer K, Gergel S, Hammer SC
ChemBioChem, 2022, 23, e202100632.
Selected as VIP paper by ChemBioChem
Highlighted in the ChemBioTalents 2022/23 collection
Engineered enzymes enable selective N‐alkylation of pyrazoles with simple haloalkanes
Bengel LL, Aberle B, Egler-Kemmerer AN, Kienzle S, Hauer B, Hammer SC
Angew Chem Int Ed, 2021, 60, 5554-5560
Selected as VIP paper by Angewandte Chemie
Highlighted by B. List and J.L. Kennemur in Synfacts 2021, 17, 0322
Anti-Markovnikov alkene oxidation by metal-oxo–mediated enzyme catalysis
Hammer SC, Kubik G, Watkins E, Huang S, Minges H, Arnold FH
Science 2017, 358, 215-218
Highlighted by S. Bormann in C&EN
Highlighted by B. List and G.A. Shevchenko in Synfacts 2018, 14, 0083
Highlighted by ACS in Chemistry Research of the year 2017
Team
Jun.-Prof. for Organic Chemistry and Biocatalysis & Emmy Noether Research Group Leader (New Catalytic Reactions by Directed Enzyme Evolution).
Chemical Laboratory Assistant
Alina is our Bielefeld local and manages our lab. She joined the group after successfully completing her training as chemical laboratory assistant at Bielefeld University.
Doctoral Researcher
Lucas is French and he studied organic chemistry in Marseille (France) and Trondheim (Norway). Lucas worked with Dr. Hervé Clavier and completed his master thesis with Prof. Elisabeth Jacobsen.
Dr. Christoph Diehl
Postdoctoral Researcher
Chris studied microbiology and received his PhD with Prof. Tobias Erb (Marburg, DE) by combining synthetic metabolism and machine learning. Chris is also recipient of the 2023 Dissertation Award of Synthetic Biology.
Doctoral Researcher
Shubhanshu is from Madhya Pradesh (India) and studied chemistry at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay. Shubhanshu joined our group after his master thesis with Prof. Debabrata Maiti.
Doctoral Researcher
Cindy is from Switzerland where she studied chemical biology at ETH Zürich. Cindy joined us after her master thesis with Prof. Donald Hilvert.
Vanessa Reitz
Doctoral Researcher
Vanessa studied biology and biochemistry at the Philipps University of Marburg (Germany) and joined us after her master thesis with Dr. Johannes Rebelein at the Max Planck Institute of Terrestrial Microbiology.
Doctoral Researcher
Felipe comes from Colombia and is a chemist by training. Before joining our group, Felipe worked as lecturer and research assistant with Prof. Felipe Otálvaro at Universidad de Antioquia in Medellín.
Marius Schnutenhaus
Master Student
Marius studied Biology (Bachelor) at the Ruhr University Bochum and moved to Bielefeld to study Molecular Biotechnology (Master). He is currently doing research for his master's thesis in our research group.
Doctoral Researcher
Kai is from southern Germany, studied technical biochemistry at Stuttgart University and already made an internship in industry (Roche Biocatalysis). He joined us with a DBU PhD scholarship.
Lukas Stratmann
Master Student
Lukas is from Herford (Germany) and studies chemistry at the Bielefeld University. He is currently doing research for his master's thesis in our research group.
