Professor Todd Hyster

Professor Todd Hyster
Department of Chemistry
Princeton University

Emergent Mechanisms in Photoenzymatic Catalysis

Enzymes are exquisite catalysts for chemical synthesis, capable of providing unparalleled levels of chemo-, regio-, diastereo- and enantioselectivity. Unfortunately, biocatalysts are often limited to the reactivity patterns found in nature. In this talk, I will share my groups efforts to use light to expand the reaction mechanisms available to natural enzyme families. In our studies, we found photo excitation of common biological cofactors, such as NADH, PLP, and FMN, to be a general strategy for revealing these novel functions. In many cases, we have identified unexpected mechanisms available to reactions occurring within the protein microenvironment that are not observed in solution- based photochemistry. Using these approaches, we can develop biocatalysts to solve long-standing selectivity challenges in chemical synthesis.

Todd Hyster

Professor Hyster is a native of Minnesota and received his B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Minnesota and his Ph.D. from Colorado State University under Tomislav Rovis. He was a Marie Curie Fellow with Thomas Ward at the University of Basel and an NIH Postdoctoral Fellow with Frances Arnold at Caltech. He began his independent career at Princeton in 2015, moved to Cornell University in 2021, and returned to Princeton as Professor of Chemistry in 2023. Professor Hyster’s research group develops new biocatalytic strategies to address long- standing reactivity and selectivity challenges in organic synthesis. The Hyster lab is broadly focused on enabling enzymes to catalyze reactions that are currently unknown in nature, then applying directed evolution to optimize these catalysts for efficient, selective chemical transformations. The group is particularly known for pioneering photoenzymatic catalysis, using visible light to unlock new catalytic functions from known enzyme families.

Hosted by Professor Christopher Douglas

Sponsored by Organic Syntheses, Inc.