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0Title:
Exploring the Potential of Biocatalysis for Abiotic Chemical Transformations
Astract:
With the rapid advancement of biotechnology, biocatalysis has emerged as a promising and sustainable approach for the synthesis of valuable chemicals. A major challenge associated with biocatalysis is to expand the catalytic repertoire of enzymes to meet the requirements of synthetic chemistry. In this context, the researcher’s group is working toward the discovery of novel enzymes capable of catalyzing abiotic chemical transformation by leveraging principles of organic chemistry. In this presentation, they will introduce their recent progress in identifying novel bacterial enzymes capable of catalyzing the NHC-mediated radical acylation and other abiotic chemical transformations.
Personal Profile:
Dr. Shunsuke Kato received his Ph.D. in Applied Chemistry from Osaka University, Graduate School of Engineering, in 2021 under the supervision of Prof. Takashi Hayashi. During his doctoral studies, he joined the group of Prof. Kazushi Mashima (Graduate School of Engineering Science, Osaka University) in 2016. From 2017 to 2018, he conducted research as a visiting scholar in the group of Prof. Ulrich Schwaneberg at the Institute of Biotechnology, RWTH Aachen University. In 2019, he undertook an internship at Sumitomo Chemical Co., Ltd. (Bioscience Research Laboratory). In 2021, he was promoted to Assistant Professor in the Department of Applied Chemistry, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University. In 2025, he was appointed Associate Professor at Engineering Biology Research Center, Kobe University. His current research interests lie in the area of biocatalysis, including the genome mining of novel enzymes, and their application to the metabolic engineering.
