Today, biocatalytic methodologies are well established as useful tools in green organic synthesis, since biocatalysts are mild, sustainable, and environmentally friendly catalysts which provide selectivity to the reactions they catalyse. Albumin, the most abundant protein of mammalian blood, is a versatile and mild biocatalyst in vitro. The aim of this review is to provide a perspective on the synthetic applications of albumin over the last decade. These cover transformations with a diverse chemical basis, such as additions, eliminations, and oxidations, including formation of carbon-carbon and carbon-heteroatom bonds. Albumin can also be applied in tandem and multicomponent reactions and offers a mild alternative for the synthesis of different heterocyclic cores. In addition to its synthetic possibilities, the remarkable reusability of this protein offers interesting potential from a biotechnological point of view.
Keywords: albumin; biocatalysis; biocatalysts; catalytic promiscuity; green catalysis.