Researchers in Groningen have built a variant of boric acid into an enzyme, a first in the world of designer enzymes. This makes it possible to carry out non-natural reactions in a ‘natural’ way, they write in Nature.

Enzymes come in all shapes and sizes, which makes them useful in a wide range of chemistry, including many synthetic applications. But there are limits. Reactions based on the element boron, for example, are out of reach. At least until now. 

‘Boron has been somewhat neglected. It offers unique chemical possibilities and is quite abundant on Earth, but mostly trapped in minerals and rocks and therefore not very accessible. No natural enzyme contains boron’, says research leader Gerard Roelfes, Professor of Biomolecular Chemistry & Catalysis at the University of Groningen.