Dr. Xavier Garrabou Pi
Research Interests
Dr. Xavier Garrabou Pi is the founder and CEO of Lock and Key Biosciences, a Spin-off of ETH Zürich. After working at Prof. Donald Hilvert’s group as a postdoctoral fellow, he received a Pioneer Fellowship from the ETH Foundation to support an entrepreneurial project based on his research. In 2019 he incorporated Lock and Key Biosciences, a chemical and biotechnological company that develops and exploits innovative biocatalysts for asymmetric synthesis. You can find out more about this project here.
Publications
Research Articles
Garrabou, X., Macdonald, D.S., Wicky, B.I.M., Hilvert, D.; Stereodivergent Evolution of Artificial Enzymes for the Michael Reaction. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2018, 57 (19), pp. 5288-5291. DOI:10.1002/anie. 201712554.
Garrabou X., Macdonald D. S., Hilvert D.; Chemoselective Henry condensations catalyzed by artificial carboligases. Chem. Eur. J. 2017, 23,6001 –6003. DOI: 10.1002/chem.201605757.
Garrabou X., Verez R., Hilvert D.; Enantiocomplementary Synthesis of γ-Nitroketones Using Designed and Evolved Carboligases. J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2017, 139, 103–106. DOI: 10.1021/jacs.6b11928.
Obexer R., Godina A., Garrabou X., Mittl P.R.E., Baker D., Griffiths A.D., Hilvert D.; Emergence of a catalytic tetrad during evolution of a highly active artificial aldolase. Nat. Chem. 2017, 9, 50-56. DOI: 10.1038/NCHEM.2596.
Garrabou X., Wicky B.I.M., Hilvert D., Fast Knoevenagel reactions catalyzed by a Schiff-base forming artificial enzyme. J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2016, 138, 6972-6974. DOI: 10.1021/jacs.6b00816.
Güclü D., Szekrenyi A., Garrabou X., Kickstein M., Juncker S., Clapés P., Fessner W.D.; Minimalist protein engineering of an aldolase provokes unprecedented substrate promiscuity. ACS Catal., 2016, 6, 1848-1852. DOI: 10.1021/acscatal.5b02805.
Szekrenyi A., Garrabou X., Parella T., Joglar J., Bujons J., Clapés P.; Asymmetric assembly of aldose carbohydrates from formaldehyde and glycolaldehyde by tandem biocatalytic aldol reactions. Nat. Chem., 2015, 7, 724-729. DOI:10.1038/nchem.2321.
Garrabou, X., Beck, T., Hilvert, D.; A promiscuous de Novo retro-aldolase catalyzes asymmetric Michael additions via Schiff base intermediates. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2015, 54 (19), pp. 5609-5612. DOI: 10.1002/anie.201500217.
Soler, A., Garrabou, X., Hernández, K., Gutiérrez, M. L., Busto, E., Bujons, J., Parella, T., Joglar, J., Clapés, P.; Sequential Biocatalytic Aldol Reactions in Multistep Asymmetric Synthesis: Pipecolic Acid, Piperidine and Pyrrolidine (Homo)Iminocyclitol Derivatives from Achiral Building Blocks. Adv. Synth. Catal., 2014, 356: 3007-3024. DOI: 10.1002/adsc.201400453.
Szekrenyi, A., Soler, A., Garrabou, X., Guérard-Hélaine, C., Parella, T., Joglar, J., Lemaire, M., Bujons, J., Clapés, P.; Engineering the donor selectivity of D-fructose-6-phosphate aldolase for biocatalytic asymmetric cross-aldol additions of glycolaldehyde. Chem. Eur. J., 2014, 20, 12572-12583. DOI: 10.1002/chem.201403281.
Gomez L., Garrabou X., Joglar J., Bujons J., Parella T., Vilaplana C., Cardona P.J., Clapés P.; Chemoenzymatic synthesis, structural study and biological activity of novel indolizidine and quinolizidine iminocyclitols. Org. Biomol. Chem., 2012, 10, 6309-6321. DOI: 10.1039/c2ob25943e.
Garrabou X., Calveras J., Joglar J., Parella T., J. Bujons J., Clapés P.; Highly Efficient Aldol additions of DHA and DHAP to N-Cbz-Amino aldehydes Catalyzed by L-Rhamnulose-1-Phosphate and L-Fuculose-1-Phosphate Aldolases in Aqueous Borate Buffer. Org. Biomol. Chem., 2011, 9, 8430-8436. DOI: 10.1039/c1ob06263h.
Garrabou X., Joglar J., Parella T., Crehuet R., Bujons J., Clapés P.; Redesign of the Phosphate Binding Site of L-Rhamnulose- 1-Phosphate Aldolase towards a Dihydroxyacetone Dependent Aldolase. Adv. Synth. Catal., 2011, 353:89-99. DOI: 10.1002/adsc.201000719.
Castillo J.A., Guérard-Hélaine C., Gutiérrez M.L., Garrabou X., Sancelme M., Schürmann M., Inoue T., Hélaine V., Charmantray F., Gefflaut T., et al.: A mutant D-fructose-6-phosphate aldolase (Ala129Ser) with improved affinity towards dihydroxyacetone for the synthesis of polyhydroxylated compounds. Adv. Synth. Catal., 2010, 352:1039-1046. DOI: 10.1002/adsc.200900772.
Garrabou X., Gomez L., Parella T., Joglar J., Bujons J., Clapés P.; Structure-guided minimalist redesign of L-fuculose-1-phosphate aldolase active site. Expedient synthesis of novel polyhydroxylated pyrrolizidines and their inhibitory properties against glycosidases and intestinal disaccharidases. Chem. Eur. J., 2010, 16, 10691-10706. DOI: 10.1002/chem.201000714.
Garrabou X., Castillo José A., Guérard-Hélaine C., Parella T., Joglar J., Lemaire M., Clapés P.; Asymmetric self- and cross-aldol reactions of glycolaldehyde catalyzed by D-fructose-6-phosphate aldolase. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2009, 48:5521-5525. DOI: 10.1002/anie.200902065.
Gutiérrez M.L., Garrabou X., Agosta E., Servi S., Parella T., Joglar J., Clapés P.; Serine hydroxymethyl transferase from Streptococcus thermophilus and L-threonine aldolase from Escherichia coli as stereocomplementary biocatalysts for the synthesis of β-hydroxy-α,ω-diamino acid derivatives. Chem. Eur. J., 2008, 14:4647-4656. DOI: 10.1002/chem.200800031.
Reviews and Book Chapters
Bunzel H. A., Garrabou X., Pott M., Hilvert D.; Speeding up enzyme discovery and engineering with ultrahigh-throughput methods, Curr Opin Struct Biol. 2018 Feb; 48:149-156. DOI: 10.1016/j.sbi.2017.12.010.
Obexer R., Garrabou X., Hilvert D.; Creation and Optimization of Artificial Enzymes for Abiological Reactions, Section 3.11 Biocatalysis, Science of Synthesis, Ed. Georg Thieme Verlag KG: Suttgart (Germany), 2015.
Clapés P., Garrabou X.; Current Trends in Asymmetric Synthesis with Aldolases. Adv. Synth. Catal., 2011, 353, 2263. DOI: 10.1002/adsc.201100236.