Scottish researchers find natural enzyme that forms carbon-fluorine bonds

from the put-THAT-in-the-toolbox dept.
According to a press release (21 March 2002), researchers at the University of St Andrews in Scotland have discovered a natural fluorinase enzyme, a biological catalyst which bonds carbon to fluorine. The discovery was published in the 21 March 2002 issue of Nature. An understanding of how natural enzymes handle a highly-reactive element such as fluorine would have important implications for the development of artificial molecular machines systems.