Regioselective o-hydroxylation of monosubstituted benzenes by P450 BM3

Control of stereoselectivity of benzylic hydroxylation catalysed by wild-type cytochrome P450BM3 using decoy molecules

The benzylic hydroxylation of non-native substrates was catalysed by cytochrome P450BM3, wherein “decoy molecules” controlled the stereoselectivity of the reactions.

Improved oxidation of aromatic and aliphatic hydrocarbons using rate enhancing variants of P450Bm3 in combination with decoy molecules

Enzyme performance can be improved using decoy molecules or engineered variants to accelerate the activity without affecting selectivity. Here we combine a rate accelerator variant of cytochrome P450Bm3 with decoy molecules to enhance the oxidation activity of a range of small organic molecules. This combined approach offers superior biocatalytic efficiency without modifying the product distribution.

Structure-guided stereoselectivity inversion of a short-chain dehydrogenase/reductase towards halogenated acetophenones

The structure-guided rational design of an NADH-dependent short-chain dehydrogenase/reductase (SDR) reversed the stereoselectivity towards halogenated acetophenones from Prelog to anti-Prelog.

Expanding the toolbox of organic chemists: directed evolution of P450 monooxygenases as catalysts in regio- and stereoselective oxidative hydroxylation

Cytochrome P450 enzymes (CYPs) have been used for more than six decades as catalysts for the CH-activating oxidative hydroxylation of organic compounds with formation of added-value products.

Enzyme-controlled nitrogen-atom transfer enables regiodivergent C-H amination

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 amination-one 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.

New platform for cytochrome p450 reaction combining in situ immobilization on biopolymer

We describe an efficienct chemical conversion platform with in situ immobilization of P450-BM3 on poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) granules. Through fusion with phasin, P450-BM3 is easily immobilized on poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) granules in Escherichia coli. In our work, the immobilized P450 exhibited higher stability and catalytic activity compared to free P450 against changes of pH, temperature, and concentrations of urea and ions. Through quick recovery of immobilized enzyme, the P450-P(3HB) complex successfully catalyzed an O-dealkylation reaction several times with maintained activity. Using the robust P450-P(3HB) complex, we performed a P450-catalyzed reaction on a preparative reactor scale (100 mL) and high-level production (12.3 μM) of 7-hydroxycoumarine from 7-ethoxycoumarin could be achieved.