A computational investigation of the mechanism dihydrosanguinarine (DHSAN) photoactivation and its conversion into active drug sanguinarine (SAN) is here reported. The reaction DHSAN photoconversion was fully explored by considering excitation first, essential for generating one reactants, 1O2, then locating all minima transition states involved in formation SAN. Both forms present at physiolog...

The benzylisoquinoline alkaloids (BIAs) are a diverse class of plant secondary metabolites that exhibit a broad range of pharmacological activities and are synthesized through biosynthetic pathways that exhibit complex enzyme activities and regulatory strategies. We have engineered yeast to produce the major branch point intermediate reticuline and downstream BIA metabolites from a commercially...