VIOLET - Dihydroionones and designed molecular anchors
ANGEWANDTE CHEMIE, 2021 — Sometimes the real breakthrough is not making an enzyme more active, but teaching it where to stop. This work shows that molecular anchors inside terpene cyclases can guide highly reactive cationic cascades with exceptional precision: turning simple, achiral precursors into valuable chiral apocarotenoids, flavors, and fragrances in a single aqueous step. Molecular anchoring becomes a design principle for programmable terpene cyclization: fewer synthetic steps, higher selectivity, and direct access to product space that conventional chemistry struggles to control.
NAKED CELLS - Hydrophobicity and the spheroplasts
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS, 2022 — Membrane enzymes often hold enormous catalytic potential, but the cell envelope can hide that potential from the substrate. This work shows that spheroplast preparation removes a critical diffusion barrier around squalene-hopene cyclases, creating substrate-accessible biocatalysts with dramatically improved activity while preserving the stability benefits of a cellular environment. The result is a powerful middle ground between whole cells and purified enzymes: a practical catalyst format for hydrophobic terpene transformations that can be recycled, reused, and moved closer to industrial application.
WHALE VOMIT - Ambrox and extreme selectivity
ANGEWANDTE CHEMIE, 2023 — (-)-Ambrox epitomizes the iconic amber notes of the frangrace industry: valuable, powerful, and historically linked to scarce natural ambergris. This work shows that the structure and dynamics of squalene-hopene cyclase can be engineered to unlock highly efficient, stereoselective ambroxide formation from homofarnesol. The core message is simple: when enzyme architecture is understood deeply enough, activity and selectivity jumps can be reached faster.
MAGIC METHYL - Methylated terpenes and the SAM problem
ANGEWANDTE CHEMIE, 2023 — Sometimes the smallest structural change creates the biggest commercial difference. This work shows that engineered methyltransferases can add a single carbon atom to complex terpene molecules with exceptional selectivity: opening access to methylated, new-to-nature terpenoids that are difficult to reach by conventional chemistry. Methylation becomes a tool for creating proprietary molecules with potentially new sensory, biological, and performance profiles.
EMBARK - Borneol and the directed rearrangement
ANGEWANDTE CHEMIE, 2024 — Monoterpenes are abundant, but their rearrangements are notoriously difficult to control with classical acid chemistry. This work shows that engineered squalene-hopene cyclases can steer challenging carbocation pathways with remarkable precision, shifting product formation from complex mixtures toward defined high-value structures such as borneol. Cation steering turns terpene isomerization into a programmable design space: transforming commodity terpene feedstocks into differentiated fragrance and active-ingredient building blocks.
SCAFFOLD DIVERSITY - Drimane, Labdane, isocopolane and chemo-enzymatic synthesis
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS, 2024 —Terpene innovation is often limited by the few cyclic scaffolds nature makes readily available. This work shows that engineered squalene-hopene cyclases can convert abundant, unbiased linear terpenes into diverse chiral head-to-tail scaffolds with exceptional stereocontrol and practical scalability. It turns terpene synthesis into a platform: build the carbon skeleton enzymatically, then diversify it chemically. This study unlocks a faster path to new fragrance, flavor, pharma, and bioactive product space.
MUGUET - Hydrated terpenes and the mechanistic question
ANGEWANDTE CHEMIE, 2025 — Water is the simplest reagent in chemistry, but controlling where it reacts can create extraordinary molecular value. This work shows that a cofactor-independent carotenoid hydratase can selectively hydrate terminal double bonds across a broad range of terpene scaffolds, opening direct access to valuable tertiary alcohols that are difficult to obtain cleanly by conventional chemistry. Hydration becomes a precision lever for upgrading abundant terpene feedstocks into fragrance, flavor, and active-ingredient building blocks with high regioselectivity and a simple way.
REPELLENT - cis-PMD and the asymmetric direct Prins cyclohydration
ANGEWANDTE CHEMIE, 2026 —The next generation of natural repellents will depend on more than efficacy. It will depend on purity, selectivity, and reliable access to the right active isomer. This work shows that engineered squalene-hopene cyclases can convert citronellal into stereodefined p-menthane-3,8-diol through direct asymmetric Prins cyclohydration, delivering highly selective access to the most valuable natural PMD isomer. Enzyme-guided cyclohydration becomes tool for transforming abundant terpene feedstocks into safer, differentiated pest-protection actives.