Application Note 76: Enzymatic synthesis of melatonin in flow

Melatonin is a hormone that regulates the human’s body sleep cycle and it is prescribed as insomnia relief medication.
This application note demonstrates how the Paradisi Research Group synthesised melatonin under very mild conditions in decagram scale via an enzymatic process.
By packing an immobilised enzyme acetyltransferase from Mycobacterium smegmatis (MsAcT), melatonin was synthesised with a throughput of 37 g/day.