1116 8th Ave
Noyce 2030
黑料不打烊, IA 50112-1500
United States
Allwin McDonald
My research focuses on biocatalytic syntheses of medicinal compounds. Enzymatic syntheses provide high specificity under biologically friendly conditions. This high specificity means that enzymes are naturally well-suited for cascade syntheses. I am interested in developing enzymatic cascades that provide advantages over traditional synthetic methodologies.
Additionally, by leveraging the biocatalysis factories that are living cells, engineered cascades can function in vivo. This allows syntheses to take place in bacteria, yeast, or plants, further expanding useful cascade targets. These engineered pathways will improve yield and accessibility of currently tricky-to-synthesize compounds.
Additionally, I am working on designing high-throughput screening methods. Too often, high-throughput screens are limited to a small-subset of enzymatic reactions (a notable example here being hydrolases) or involve interactions with transcription factors/DNA. By taking advantage of unique ways small molecules interact with cellular metabolism, I seek to develop more general in vivo screens of biocatalysts involved in specialized metabolism.
Education and Degrees
B.A. Ripon College 鈥 2017
Ph.D. University of Wisconsin-Madison 鈥 2022
Postdoctoral Scientist with Sarah O鈥機onnor at the Max Planck of Chemical Ecology 鈥 2022-2025
Selected Publications
Carr S.C.*; McDonald A.D.*; Langley C.*; Grabe V.; Gase K.; O鈥機onnor S.E. 鈥淧rotein-Protein Interactions Modulate a Key Branchpoint in Monoterpene Indole Alkaloid Biosynthesis.鈥 2026, 21, 8-13.
McDonald, A.D.; Nakamura, Y.; Schotte, C.; Titchiner, G.; Lau, K,; Alam, R.; Lopes, A.A.; Buell, C.R.; O鈥機onnor. S.E. 鈥淓nzymatic epimerization of monoterpene indole alkaloids in Kratom.鈥 Nature Chemical Biology., 2025.
McDonald, A.D.*; Ellis, J. M.*; Steger-Wilson, L.; Campbell, M.; Buller, A.R. 鈥淎ctive site diversification of a non-canonical amino acid decarboxylase by merging substrate multiplexed screening with computationally guided recombination.鈥 Protein Science 2025, 34 (11), e70356.
McDonald, A.D.; Bruffy, S.K.; Kasat, A.T.; Buller, A.R. 鈥淓ngineering a promiscuous C-C bond forming cascade for the synthesis of chiral 1,2-amino alcohols.鈥 Angewandte Chemie, 2022, 61, No. e202212637.
McDonald, A.D.*; Higgins, P.M.*; Buller, A.R. 鈥淪ubstrate multiplexed protein engineering facilitates promiscuous biocatalytic synthesis.鈥 Nat. Comm., 2022, 13, 5242.
Thompson, C.M.; McDonald, A.D.; Yang, H.; Cavagnero, S.; Buller, A.R. 鈥淢odular control of L-tryptophan isotopic substitution via an efficient biosynthetic cascade.鈥 Org. Biomol. Chem. 2020. 18, 4189鈥4192.
McDonald, A.D.; Perkins, L.J.; Buller, A.R. 鈥淔acile in vitro biocatalytic production of diverse tryptamines.鈥 ChemBioChem. 2019. 20, 1939鈥1944.