Intermolecular C-C bond-forming reactions are underdeveloped transformations in the field of biocatalysis. Here we report a photoenzymatic intermolecular hydroalkylation of olefins catalyzed by ...flavin-dependent 'ene'-reductases. Radical initiation occurs via photoexcitation of a rare high-order enzyme-templated charge-transfer complex that forms between an alkene, α-chloroamide, and flavin hydroquinone. This unique mechanism ensures that radical formation only occurs when both substrates are present within the protein active site. This active site can control the radical terminating hydrogen atom transfer, enabling the synthesis of enantioenriched γ-stereogenic amides. This work highlights the potential for photoenzymatic catalysis to enable new biocatalytic transformations via previously unknown electron transfer mechanisms.
We recently demonstrated that variants of cytochrome P450BM3 (CYP102A1) catalyze the insertion of nitrogen species into benzylic C–H bonds to form new C–N bonds. An outstanding challenge in the field ...of C–H amination is catalyst-controlled regioselectivity. Here, we report two engineered variants of P450BM3 that provide divergent regioselectivity for C–H aminationone favoring amination of benzylic C–H bonds and the other favoring homo-benzylic C–H bonds. The two variants provide nearly identical kinetic isotope effect values (2.8–3.0), suggesting that C–H abstraction is rate-limiting. The 2.66-Å crystal structure of the most active enzyme suggests that the engineered active site can preorganize the substrate for reactivity. We hypothesize that the enzyme controls regioselectivity through localization of a single C–H bond close to the iron nitrenoid.
Radical hydrofunctionalizations of electronically unbiased dienes are challenging to render regioselective, because the products are nearly identical in energy. Here, we report two engineered ...FMN-dependent “ene”-reductases (EREDs) that catalyze regiodivergent hydroalkylations of cyclic and linear dienes. While previous studies focused exclusively on the stereoselectivity of alkene hydroalkylation, this work highlights that EREDs can control the regioselectivity of hydrogen atom transfer, providing a method for selectively preparing constitutional isomers that would be challenging to prepare using traditional synthetic methods. Engineering the ERED from Gluconabacter sp. (GluER) furnished a variant that favors the γ,δ-unsaturated ketone, while an engineered variant from a commercial ERED panel favors the δ,ε-unsaturated ketone. The effect of beneficial mutations has been investigated using substrate docking studies and the mechanism probed by isotope labeling experiments. A variety of α-bromo ketones can be coupled with cyclic and linear dienes. These interesting building blocks can also be further modified to generate difficult-to-access heterocyclic compounds.
Photoenzymes are a rare class of biocatalysts that use light to facilitate chemical reactions. Many of these catalysts utilize a flavin cofactor to absorb light, suggesting that other flavoproteins ...might have latent photochemical functions. Lactate monooxygenase is a flavin-dependent oxidoreductase previously reported to mediate the photodecarboxylation of carboxylates to afford alkylated flavin adducts. While this reaction holds a potential synthetic value, the mechanism and synthetic utility of this process are unknown. Here, we combine femtosecond spectroscopy, site-directed mutagenesis, and a hybrid quantum-classical computational approach to reveal the active site photochemistry and the role the active site amino acid residues play in facilitating this decarboxylation. Light-induced electron transfer from histidine to flavin was revealed, which has not been reported in other proteins. These mechanistic insights enable the development of catalytic oxidative photodecarboxylation of mandelic acid to produce benzaldehyde, a previously unknown reaction for photoenzymes. Our findings suggest that a much wider range of enzymes have the potential for photoenzymatic catalysis than has been realized to date.
We demonstrate here through molecular simulations and mutational studies the origin of the enantioselectivity in the photoinduced radical cyclization of α-chloroacetamides catalyzed by ...ene-reductases, in particular the
ene-reductase and the Old Yellow Enzyme 1, which show opposite enantioselectivity. Our results reveal that neither the π-facial selectivity model nor a protein-induced selective stabilization of the transition states is able to explain the enantioselectivity of the radical cyclization in the studied flavoenzymes. We propose a new enantioinduction scenario according to which enantioselectivity is indeed controlled by transition-state stability; however, the relative stability of the prochiral transition states is not determined by direct interaction with the protein but is rather dependent on an inherent degree of freedom within the substrate itself. This intrinsic degree of freedom, distinct from the traditional π-facial exposure mode, can be controlled by the substrate conformational selection upon binding to the enzyme.
One of the greatest challenges in protein design is creating new enzymes, something evolution does all the time, starting from existing ones. Borrowing from nature’s evolutionary strategy, we have ...engineered a bacterial cytochrome P450 to catalyze highly enantioselective intermolecular aziridination, a synthetically useful reaction that has no natural biological counterpart. The new enzyme is fully genetically encoded, functions in vitro or in whole cells, and can be optimized rapidly to exhibit high enantioselectivity (up to 99% ee) and productivity (up to 1,000 catalytic turnovers) for intermolecular aziridination, demonstrated here with tosyl azide and substituted styrenes. This new aziridination activity highlights the remarkable ability of a natural enzyme to adapt and take on new functions. Once discovered in an evolvable enzyme, this non-natural activity was improved and its selectivity tuned through an evolutionary process of accumulating beneficial mutations.
The study of non-natural biocatalytic transformations relies heavily on empirical methods, such as directed evolution, for identifying improved variants. Although exceptionally effective, this ...approach provides limited insight into the molecular mechanisms behind the transformations and necessitates multiple protein engineering campaigns for new reactants. To address this limitation, we disclose a strategy to explore the biocatalytic reaction space and garner insight into the molecular mechanisms driving enzymatic transformations. Specifically, we explored the selectivity of an “ene”-reductase, GluER-T36A, to create a data-driven toolset that explores reaction space and rationalizes the observed and predicted selectivities of substrate/mutant combinations. The resultant statistical models related structural features of the enzyme and substrate to selectivity and were used to effectively predict selectivity in reactions with out-of-sample substrates and mutants. Our approach provided a deeper understanding of enantioinduction by GluER-T36A and holds the potential to enhance the virtual screening of enzyme mutants.
Non-natural light-driven enzymatic reactivity was recently developed to perform the highly stereoselective reactions required for pharmaceutical synthesis. However, photoenzymes require ...high-intensity light to function because of the poor absorption properties of their photoactive intermediates. Inspired by the modular architecture of photosynthesis, we designed a conjugate composed of a covalently linked photoenzyme and a light antenna to separate light capture from catalysis. Spectroscopic characterization of the conjugate showed the presence of efficient energy transfer from the light-harvesting components to the photoenzyme. In the presence of energy transfer, a ∼4-fold increase in product yield was observed for intramolecular hydroalkylation of alkenes, and reactivity was enabled for intermolecular hydroalkylation of alkenes. These improvements establish the power of incorporating nature’s design into non-natural photoenzymatic catalysis.
Allylations are practical transformations that forge C–C bonds while introducing an alkene for further chemical manipulations. Here, we report a photoenzymatic allylation of α-chloroamides with allyl ...silanes using flavin-dependent “ene”-reductases (EREDs). An engineered ERED can catalyze annulative allylic alkylation to prepare 5, 6, and 7-membered lactams with high levels of enantioselectivity. Ultrafast transient absorption spectroscopy indicates that radical termination occurs via β-scission of the silyl group to afford a silyl radical, a distinct mechanism by comparison to traditional radical allylations involving allyl silanes. Moreover, this represents an alternative strategy for radical termination using EREDs. This mechanism was applied to intermolecular couplings involving allyl sulfones and silyl enol ethers. Overall, this method highlights the opportunity for EREDs to catalyze radical termination strategies beyond hydrogen atom transfer.
Substituted arenes are ubiquitous in molecules with medicinal functions, making their synthesis a critical consideration when designing synthetic routes. Regioselective C–H functionalization ...reactions are attractive for preparing alkylated arenes; however, the selectivity of existing methods is modest and primarily governed by the substrate’s electronic properties. Here, we demonstrate a biocatalyst-controlled method for the regioselective alkylation of electron-rich and electron-deficient heteroarenes. Starting from an unselective “ene”-reductase (ERED) (GluER-T36A), we evolved a variant that selectively alkylates the C4 position of indole, an elusive position using prior technologies. Mechanistic studies across the evolutionary series indicate that changes to the protein active site alter the electronic character of the charge transfer (CT) complex responsible for radical formation. This resulted in a variant with a significant degree of ground-state CT in the CT complex. Mechanistic studies on a C2-selective ERED suggest that the evolution of GluER-T36A helps disfavor a competing mechanistic pathway. Additional protein engineering campaigns were carried out for a C8-selective quinoline alkylation. This study highlights the opportunity to use enzymes for regioselective radical reactions, where small molecule catalysts struggle to alter selectivity.
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