The expanding world of biosynthetic pericyclases: cooperation of experiment and theory for discovery

Pericyclic reactions are a distinct class of reactions that havewide synthetic utility. Before the recent discoveries described in this review, enzyme-catalyzed pericyclic reactions were not widely known to be involved in biosynthesis. This situation is changing rapidly. We define the scope of pericyclic reactions, give a historical account of their discoveries as biosynthetic reactions, and provide evidence that there are many enzymes in nature that catalyze pericyclic reactions. These enzymes, the pericyclases, are the subject of this review.