Biocatalysis with laccases: An updated overview

: Laccases are multicopper oxidases, which have been widely investigated in recent decadesthanks to their ability to oxidize organic substrates to the corresponding radicals while producingwater at the expense of molecular oxygen. Besides their successful (bio)technological applications,for example, in textile, petrochemical, and detoxifications/bioremediations industrial processes,their synthetic potentialities for the mild and green preparation or selective modification of finechemicals are of outstanding value in biocatalyzed organic synthesis. Accordingly, this review isfocused on reporting and rationalizing some of the most recent and interesting synthetic exploitationsof laccases. Applications of the so-called laccase-mediator system (LMS) for alcohol oxidationare discussed with a focus on carbohydrate chemistry and natural products modification as wellas on bio- and chemo-integrated processes. The laccase-catalyzed Csp2-H bonds activation viamonoelectronic oxidation is also discussed by reporting examples of enzymatic C-C and C-O radicalhomo- and hetero-couplings, as well as of aromatic nucleophilic substitutions of hydroquinones orquinoids. Finally, the laccase-initiated domino/cascade synthesis of valuable aromatic (hetero)cycles,elegant strategies widely documented in the literature across more than three decades, is alsopresented