Enzyme immunoassays as screening tools for catalysts and reaction discovery

Enzyme immunoassays are incredibly powerful analytical tools for the quantifiable detection of target molecules in complex media. These techniques, which exploit the fantastic specific binding properties of antibodies, are fast, precise, selective and highly sensitive and thus perfectly adapted to high-throughput detection of important analytes. Although immunoassays have been used routinely by biologists for more than 50 years, especially for diagnostic purposes, it is only recently that chemists have used them to address pure chemical problems. In this feature article, we provide an overview of progress in the development of immunoassays and their use in two main fields of organic chemistry: the identification of efficient catalysts in libraries and the discovery of new chemical reactions. This feature article summarizes the development and use of immunoassay techniques (ELISA) as screening tools for fast identification of efficient catalysts in libraries and for the discovery of new chemical reactions.