C(sp3)–H Bond Hydroxylation Catalyzed by Myoglobin Reconstituted with Manganese Porphycene

Electrochemical Formation of Fe(IV)=O Derived from H2 O2 on a Hematite Electrode as an Active Catalytic Site for Selective Hydrocarbon Oxidation Reactions

The high-valence iron species (Fe(IV)=O) in the cytochrome P450 enzyme superfamily is generated via the activation of O₂ , and serves as the active center of selective hydrocarbon oxidation reactions. Furthermore, P450 can employ an alternate route to produce Fe(IV)=O, even from H₂ O₂ without O₂ activation. Meanwhile, Fe(IV)=O has recently been revealed to be the reactive intermediate during H₂ O oxidation to O₂ on hematite electrodes. Herein, we demonstrated the generation of Fe(IV)=O on hematite electrodes during the electrochemical oxidative decomposition of H₂ O₂ using in situ UV-visible absorption spectra. The generation of Fe(IV)=O on hematite electrodes from H₂ O₂ exhibited 100 mV lower overpotential than that from H₂ O. This is because H₂ O₂ serves not only as the oxygen source of Fe(IV)=O, but also as the additional oxidant. Finally, we confirmed that the Fe(IV)=O generated on hematite electrodes can serve as the catalytic site for styrene epoxidation reactions.

Aromatic Pathways in Porphycene Derivatives Based on Current-Density Calculations

Magnetically induced current densities have been calculated for porphycenes at the density functional theory level using gauge-including atomic orbitals to ensure gauge-origin independence and a fast basis-set convergence of the current densities. The current densities have been analyzed by using the gauge-including magnetically induced current (GIMIC) method. The porphycenes are aromatic, sustaining strong diatropic ring currents. The ring-current pathways have been determined by integrating the strength of the current density passing selected bonds. The calculations show that the ring current of the porphycenes splits into an outer and inner branch at the pyrrolic rings implying that the ring current involves all 26 π electrons of the porphycenes, which is similar to the ring current of porphyrins. The pyrrolic rings of the aromatic porphycenes do not sustain any significant local ring currents. Dihydroporphycene with four inner hydrogens is antiaromatic with weakly aromatic pyrrolic rings. The annelated benzoic rings in benzoporphycene sustain local paratropic ring currents, whereas the global ring current of dibenzoporphycene splits into an outer and inner branch at the benzoic rings. Comparison of calculated ¹H NMR shieldings with ring-current strengths shows that interactions between the inner hydrogen and the neighbor nitrogen is more significant for differences in the ¹H NMR shieldings than variations in global ring-current strengths. Calculated excitation energies show that the antiaromatic dihydroporphycene has a smaller optical gap than the aromatic porphycene, even though its HOMO-LUMO gap is larger.

Crystallographic evidence for unexpected selective tyrosine hydroxylations in an aerated achiral Ru-papain conjugate

The X-ray structure of an aerated achiral Ru-papain conjugate has revealed the hydroxylation of two tyrosine residues found near the ruthenium ion. The most likely mechanism involves a ruthenium-bound superoxide as the reactive species responsible for the first hydroxylation and the resulting high valent Ru(iv)[double bond, length as m-dash]O species for the second one.

Engineered Metalloenzymes with Non-Canonical Coordination Environments

Nature employs a limited number of genetically encoded, metal-coordinating residues to create metalloenzymes with diverse structures and functions. Engineered components of the cellular translation machinery can now be exploited to encode non-canonical ligands with user-defined electronic and structural properties. This ability to install "chemically programmed" ligands into proteins can provide powerful chemical probes of metalloenzyme mechanism and presents excellent opportunities to create metalloprotein catalysts with augmented properties and novel activities. In this Concept article, we provide an overview of several recent studies describing the creation of engineered metalloenzymes with interesting catalytic properties, and reveal how characterization of these systems has advanced our understanding of nature's bioinorganic mechanisms. We also highlight how powerful laboratory evolution protocols can be readily adapted to allow optimization of metalloenzymes with non-canonical ligands. This approach combines beneficial features of small molecule and protein catalysis by allowing the installation of a greater variety of local metal coordination environments into evolvable protein scaffolds, and holds great promise for the future creation of powerful metalloprotein catalysts for a host of synthetically valuable transformations.

Gram-scale synthesis of porphycenes through acid-catalyzed oxidative macrocyclizations of E/Z-mixed 5,6-diaryldipyrroethenes

A set of novel porphycenes was synthesized on a gram-scale in high overall yields by optimization of macrocyclization of E/Z-mixed 5,6-diaryldipyrroethenes.

Separation of proteins from complex bio-matrix samples using a double-functionalized polymer monolithic column

A double-functionalized polymer monolithic column was fabricated within the confines of a stainless-steel column (50 mm × 4.6 mm i.d.) via a facile method using iron porphyrin, ionic liquid (1-allyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride) and 1,10-decanediol dimethacrylate as tri-monomers; ethylene dimethacrylate as a crosslinker; polyethylene glycol 400 and N,N-dimethylformamide as co-porogens; benzoyl peroxide and N,N-dimethyl aniline as the redox initiation system. Results obtained from scanning electron microscopy, nitrogen adsorption-desorption, and mercury intrusion porosimetry confirmed the uniform pore structure and the pore size distribution of macro-pores. The home-made monolith was further characterized by elemental analysis to investigate the elemental composition of Fe supplied by iron porphyrin, confirming the synthetic process. The resulting optimized monolithic column was used as the stationary phase in high performance liquid chromatography for separating proteins, such as mixture of standard proteins, egg white, and human plasma, exhibiting good selectivity and high performance. It is worth noting that the home-made double-functionalized polymer monolithic column shows excellent selectivity for fractionation separation of human plasma proteins, and it is a promising separation tool for complex bio-samples in proteomic research.

Orthogonal Expression of an Artificial Metalloenzyme for Abiotic Catalysis

A cytochrome P450 was engineered to selectively incorporate Ir(Me)-deuteroporphyrin IX (Ir(Me)-DPIX), in lieu of heme, in bacterial cells. Cofactor selectivity was altered by introducing mutations within the heme-binding pocket to discriminate the deuteroporphyrin macrocycle, in combination with mutations to the P450 axial cysteine to accommodate a pendant methyl group on the Ir(Me) center. This artificial metalloenzyme was investigated for activity in non-native metallocarbenoid-mediated olefin cyclopropanation reactions and showed enhanced activity for aliphatic and electron-deficient olefins when compared to the native heme enzyme. This work provides a general strategy to augment the chemical functionality of heme enzymes in cells with application towards abiotic catalysis.

Importance of Scaffold Flexibility/Rigidity in the Design and Directed Evolution of Artificial Metallo-β-lactamases

We describe the design and evolution of catalytic hydrolase activity on a supramolecular protein scaffold, Zn₄:^C96RIDC1₄, which was constructed from cytochrome cb₅₆₂ building blocks via a metal-templating strategy. Previously, we reported that Zn₄:^C96RIDC1₄ could be tailored with tripodal (His/His/Glu), unsaturated Zn coordination motifs in its interfaces to generate a variant termed Zn₈:^A104AB3₄, which in turn displayed catalytic activity for the hydrolysis of activated esters and β-lactam antibiotics. Zn₈:^A104AB3₄ was subsequently subjected to directed evolution via an in vivo selection strategy, leading to a variant Zn₈:^A104/G57AB3₄ which displayed enzyme-like Michaelis-Menten behavior for ampicillin hydrolysis. A criterion for the evolutionary utility or designability of a new protein structure is its ability to accommodate different active sites. With this in mind, we examined whether Zn₄:^C96RIDC1₄ could be tailored with alternative Zn coordination sites that could similarly display evolvable catalytic activities. We report here a detailed structural and functional characterization of new variant Zn₈:AB5₄, which houses similar, unsaturated Zn coordination sites to those in Zn₈:^A104/G57AB3₄, but in completely different microenvironments. Zn₈:AB5₄ displays Michaelis-Menten behavior for ampicillin hydrolysis without any optimization. Yet, the subsequent directed evolution of Zn₈:AB5₄ revealed limited catalytic improvement, which we ascribed to the local protein rigidity surrounding the Zn centers and the lack of evolvable loop structures nearby. The relaxation of local rigidity via the elimination of adjacent disulfide linkages led to a considerable structural transformation with a concomitant improvement in β-lactamase activity. Our findings reaffirm previous observations that the delicate balance between protein flexibility and stability is crucial for enzyme design and evolution.

Prediction of the interaction of metallic moieties with proteins: An update for protein-ligand docking techniques

In this article, we present a new approach to expand the range of application of protein-ligand docking methods in the prediction of the interaction of coordination complexes (i.e., metallodrugs, natural and artificial cofactors, etc.) with proteins. To do so, we assume that, from a pure computational point of view, hydrogen bond functions could be an adequate model for the coordination bonds as both share directionality and polarity aspects. In this model, docking of metalloligands can be performed without using any geometrical constraints or energy restraints. The hard work consists in generating the convenient atom types and scoring functions. To test this approach, we applied our model to 39 high-quality X-ray structures with transition and main group metal complexes bound via a unique coordination bond to a protein. This concept was implemented in the protein-ligand docking program GOLD. The results are in very good agreement with the experimental structures: the percentage for which the RMSD of the simulated pose is smaller than the X-ray spectra resolution is 92.3% and the mean value of RMSD is < 1.0 Å. Such results also show the viability of the method to predict metal complexes-proteins interactions when the X-ray structure is not available. This work could be the first step for novel applicability of docking techniques in medicinal and bioinorganic chemistry and appears generalizable enough to be implemented in most protein-ligand docking programs nowadays available. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Artificial Metalloenzymes on the Verge of New-to-Nature Metabolism

Residing at the interface of chemistry and biotechnology, artificial metalloenzymes (ArMs) offer an attractive technology to combine the versatile reaction repertoire of transition metal catalysts with the exquisite catalytic features of enzymes. While earlier efforts in this field predominantly comprised studies in well-defined test-tube environments, a trend towards exploiting ArMs in more complex environments has recently emerged. Integration of these artificial biocatalysts in enzymatic cascades and using them in whole-cell biotransformations and in vivo opens up entirely novel prospects for both preparative chemistry and synthetic biology. We highlight selected recent developments with a particular focus on challenges and opportunities in the in vivo application of ArMs.

The Metal Drives the Chemistry: Dual Functions of Acireductone Dioxygenase

Acireductone dioxygenase (ARD) from the methionine salvage pathway (MSP) is a unique enzyme that exhibits dual chemistry determined solely by the identity of the divalent transition-metal ion (Fe²⁺ or Ni²⁺) in the active site. The Fe²⁺-containing isozyme catalyzes the on-pathway reaction using substrates 1,2-dihydroxy-3-keto-5-methylthiopent-1-ene (acireductone) and dioxygen to generate formate and the ketoacid precursor of methionine, 2-keto-4-methylthiobutyrate, whereas the Ni²⁺-containing isozyme catalyzes an off-pathway shunt with the same substrates, generating methylthiopropionate, carbon monoxide, and formate. The dual chemistry of ARD was originally discovered in the bacterium Klebsiella oxytoca, but it has recently been shown that mammalian ARD enzymes (mouse and human) are also capable of catalyzing metal-dependent dual chemistry in vitro. This is particularly interesting, since carbon monoxide, one of the products of off-pathway reaction, has been identified as an antiapoptotic molecule in mammals. In addition, several biochemical and genetic studies have indicated an inhibitory role of human ARD in cancer. This comprehensive review describes the biochemical and structural characterization of the ARD family, the proposed experimental and theoretical approaches to establishing mechanisms for the dual chemistry, insights into the mechanism based on comparison with structurally and functionally similar enzymes, and the applications of this research to the field of artificial metalloenzymes and synthetic biology.

Artificial Metalloenzymes: Reaction Scope and Optimization Strategies

The incorporation of a synthetic, catalytically competent metallocofactor into a protein scaffold to generate an artificial metalloenzyme (ArM) has been explored since the late 1970's. Progress in the ensuing years was limited by the tools available for both organometallic synthesis and protein engineering. Advances in both of these areas, combined with increased appreciation of the potential benefits of combining attractive features of both homogeneous catalysis and enzymatic catalysis, led to a resurgence of interest in ArMs starting in the early 2000's. Perhaps the most intriguing of potential ArM properties is their ability to endow homogeneous catalysts with a genetic memory. Indeed, incorporating a homogeneous catalyst into a genetically encoded scaffold offers the opportunity to improve ArM performance by directed evolution. This capability could, in turn, lead to improvements in ArM efficiency similar to those obtained for natural enzymes, providing systems suitable for practical applications and greater insight into the role of second coordination sphere interactions in organometallic catalysis. Since its renaissance in the early 2000's, different aspects of artificial metalloenzymes have been extensively reviewed and highlighted. Our intent is to provide a comprehensive overview of all work in the field up to December 2016, organized according to reaction class. Because of the wide range of non-natural reactions catalyzed by ArMs, this was done using a functional-group transformation classification. The review begins with a summary of the proteins and the anchoring strategies used to date for the creation of ArMs, followed by a historical perspective. Then follows a summary of the reactions catalyzed by ArMs and a concluding critical outlook. This analysis allows for comparison of similar reactions catalyzed by ArMs constructed using different metallocofactor anchoring strategies, cofactors, protein scaffolds, and mutagenesis strategies. These data will be used to construct a searchable Web site on ArMs that will be updated regularly by the authors.

Metal Substitution Modulates the Reactivity and Extends the Reaction Scope of Myoglobin Carbene Transfer Catalysts

Engineered myoglobins have recently emerged as promising scaffolds for catalyzing carbene-mediated transformations. In this work, we investigated the effect of altering the metal center and its first-sphere coordination environment on the carbene transfer reactivity of myoglobin. To this end, we first established an efficient protocol for the recombinant expression of myoglobin variants incorporating metalloporphyrins with non-native metals, including second- and third-row transition metals (ruthenium, rhodium, iridium). Characterization of the cofactor-substituted myoglobin variants across three different carbene transfer reactions (cyclopropanation, N-H insertion, S-H insertion) revealed a major influence of the nature of metal center, its oxidation state and first-sphere coordination environment on the catalytic activity, stereoselectivity, and/or oxygen tolerance of these artificial metalloenzymes. In addition, myoglobin variants incorporating manganese- or cobalt-porphyrins were found capable of catalyzing an intermolecular carbene C-H insertion reaction involving phthalan and ethyl α-diazoacetate, a reaction not supported by iron-based myoglobins and previously accessed only using iridium-based (bio)catalysts. These studies demonstrate how modification of the metalloporphyrin cofactor environment provides a viable and promising strategy to enhance the catalytic properties and extend the reaction scope of myoglobin-based carbene transfer catalysts.

Selective C-H bond functionalization using repurposed or artificial metalloenzymes

Catalytic CH bond functionalization has become an important tool for organic synthesis. Metalloenzymes offer a solution to one of the foremost challenges in this field, site-selective CH functionalization, but they are only capable of catalyzing a subset of the CH functionalization reactions known to small molecule catalysts. To overcome this limitation, metalloenzymes have been repurposed by exploiting the reactivity of their native cofactors toward substrates not found in nature. Additionally, new reactivity has been accessed by incorporating synthetic metal cofactors into protein scaffolds to form artificial metalloenzymes. The selectivity and activity of these catalysts has been tuned using directed evolution. This review covers the recent progress in developing and optimizing both repurposed and artificial metalloenzymes as catalysts for selective CH bond functionalization.

Photo-induced DNA cleavage by zinc-substituted myoglobin with a redesigned active center

Artificial nucleases were constructed by the redesign of the heme center in myoglobin (Mb) and replacement of the native heme with zinc protoporphyrin (ZnPP), which exhibit tunable photo-induced DNA cleavage activity.

Acid- and hydrogen-bonding-induced switching between 22-π and 18-π electron conjugations in 2-aminothiazolo[4,5-c]porphycenes

2-Aminothiazolo[4,5-c]porphycenes undergo a 22-π to 18-π electron conjugation switch in the presence of acids and strong H-bonding solvents.

Improving artificial metalloenzymes' activity by optimizing electron transfer

This feature article discusses the strategies to optimize electron transfer efficiency, towards enhancing the activity of artificial metalloenzymes.

The first synthesis of meso-dicycloalkylporphycenes: ring strain effects on structural and optical properties of isomeric porphyrins

Two novel meso-dicycloalkylporphycenes were synthesized for the first time, which showed remarkable ring-strain-induced switching of their fluorescence behaviors in the solution phase.

Design and engineering of artificial oxygen-activating metalloenzymes

Many efforts are being made in the design and engineering of metalloenzymes with catalytic properties fulfilling the needs of practical applications. Progress in this field has recently been accelerated by advances in computational, molecular and structural biology. This review article focuses on the recent examples of oxygen-activating metalloenzymes, developed through the strategies of de novo design, miniaturization processes and protein redesign. Considerable progress in these diverse design approaches has produced many metal-containing biocatalysts able to adopt the functions of native enzymes or even novel functions beyond those found in Nature.

Spectroscopy and Tautomerization Studies of Porphycenes

Tautomerization in porphycenes, constitutional isomers of porphyrins, is strongly entangled with spectral and photophysical parameters. The intramolecular double hydrogen transfer occurring in the ground and electronically excited states leads to uncommon spectroscopic characteristics, such as depolarized emission, viscosity-dependent radiationless depopulation, and vibrational-mode-specific tunneling splittings. This review starts with documentation of the electronic spectra of porphycenes: Absorption and magnetic circular dichroism are discussed, together with their analysis based on the perimeter model. Next, photophysical characteristics are presented, setting the stage for the final part, which discusses the developments in research on tautomerism. Porphycenes have been studied in different experimental regimes: molecules in condensed phases, isolated in supersonic jets and helium nanodroplets, and, recently also on the level of single molecules investigated by optical and scanning probe microscopies. Because of the rich and detailed information obtained from these diverse investigations, porphycenes emerge as very good models for studying the complex, multidimensional phenomena involved in the process of intramolecular double hydrogen transfer.

Abiological catalysis by artificial haem proteins containing noble metals in place of iron

Enzymes that contain metal ions--that is, metalloenzymes--possess the reactivity of a transition metal centre and the potential of molecular evolution to modulate the reactivity and substrate-selectivity of the system. By exploiting substrate promiscuity and protein engineering, the scope of reactions catalysed by native metalloenzymes has been expanded recently to include abiological transformations. However, this strategy is limited by the inherent reactivity of metal centres in native metalloenzymes. To overcome this limitation, artificial metalloproteins have been created by incorporating complete, noble-metal complexes within proteins lacking native metal sites. The interactions of the substrate with the protein in these systems are, however, distinct from those with the native protein because the metal complex occupies the substrate binding site. At the intersection of these approaches lies a third strategy, in which the native metal of a metalloenzyme is replaced with an abiological metal with reactivity different from that of the metal in a native protein. This strategy could create artificial enzymes for abiological catalysis within the natural substrate binding site of an enzyme that can be subjected to directed evolution. Here we report the formal replacement of iron in Fe-porphyrin IX (Fe-PIX) proteins with abiological, noble metals to create enzymes that catalyse reactions not catalysed by native Fe-enzymes or other metalloenzymes. In particular, we prepared modified myoglobins containing an Ir(Me) site that catalyse the functionalization of C-H bonds to form C-C bonds by carbene insertion and add carbenes to both β-substituted vinylarenes and unactivated aliphatic α-olefins. We conducted directed evolution of the Ir(Me)-myoglobin and generated mutants that form either enantiomer of the products of C-H insertion and catalyse the enantio- and diastereoselective cyclopropanation of unactivated olefins. The presented method of preparing artificial haem proteins containing abiological metal porphyrins sets the stage for the generation of artificial enzymes from innumerable combinations of PIX-protein scaffolds and unnatural metal cofactors to catalyse a wide range of abiological transformations.

Unactivated C(sp(3))-H hydroxylation through palladium catalysis with H2O as the oxygen source

A novel palladium catalyzed hydroxylation of unactivated aliphatic C(sp(3))-H bonds was successfully developed. Different from conventional methods, water serves as the hydroxyl group source in the reaction. This new reaction demonstrates good reactivity and broad functional group tolerance. The C-H hydroxylated products can be readily transformed into various highly valuable chemicals via known transformations. Based on experimental and theoretical studies, a mechanism involving the Pd(II)/(IV) pathway is proposed for this hydroxylation reaction.

Photo-induced coupling reactions of tetrazoles with carboxylic acids in aqueous solution: application in protein labelling

The coupling reactions of diaryltetrazoles with carboxylic acids under UV irradiation were investigated. Application of these transformations in chemical biology was demonstrated in photo-labelling the proteinogenic carboxylic acids in purified proteins, cell lysates and living cells.

Manganese protoporphyrin IX reconstituted myoglobin capable of epoxidation of the CC bond with Oxone®

Myoglobin with three distal histidines stabilizes KHSO₅, facilitates the O–O bond heterocleavage, and firstly catalyzes epoxidation with the MnPPIX cofactor.

A Balancing Act: Stability versus Reactivity of Mn(O) Complexes

A large class of heme and non-heme metalloenzymes utilize O2 or its derivatives (e.g., H2O2) to generate high-valent metal-oxo intermediates for performing challenging and selective oxidations. Due to their reactive nature, these intermediates are often short-lived and very difficult to characterize. Synthetic chemists have sought to prepare analogous metal-oxo complexes with ligands that impart enough stability to allow for their characterization and an examination of their inherent reactivity. The challenge in designing these molecules is to achieve a balance between their stability, which should allow for their in situ characterization or isolation, and their reactivity, in which they can still participate in interesting chemical transformations. This Account focuses on our recent efforts to generate and stabilize high-valent manganese-oxo porphyrinoid complexes and tune their reactivity in the oxidation of organic substrates. Dioxygen can be used to generate a high-valent Mn(V)(O) corrolazine (Mn(V)(O)(TBP8Cz)) by irradiation of Mn(III)(TBP8Cz) with visible light in the presence of a C-H substrate. Quantitative formation of the Mn(V)(O) complex occurs with concomitant selective hydroxylation of the benzylic substrate hexamethylbenzene. Addition of a strong H(+) donor converted this light/O2/substrate reaction from a stoichiometric to a catalytic process with modest turnovers. The addition of H(+) likely activates a transient Mn(V)(O) complex to achieve turnover, whereas in the absence of H(+), the Mn(V)(O) complex is an unreactive "dead-end" complex. Addition of anionic donors to the Mn(V)(O) complex also leads to enhanced reactivity, with a large increase in the rate of two-electron oxygen atom transfer (OAT) to thioether substrates. Spectroscopic characterization (Mn K-edge X-ray absorption and resonance Raman spectroscopies) revealed that the anionic donors (X(-)) bind to the Mn(V) ion to form six-coordinate [Mn(V)(O)(X)](-) complexes. An unusual "V-shaped" Hammett plot for the oxidation of para-substituted thioanisole derivatives suggested that six-coordinate [Mn(V)(O)(X)](-) complexes can act as both electrophiles and nucleophiles, depending on the nature of the substrate. Oxidation of the Mn(V)(O) corrolazine resulted in the in situ generation of a Mn(V)(O) π-radical cation complex, [Mn(V)(O)(TBP8Cz(•+))](+), which exhibited more than a 100-fold rate increase in the oxidation of thioethers. The addition of Lewis acids (LA; Zn(II), B(C6F5)3) to the closed-shell, diamagnetic Mn(V)(O)(TBP8Cz) stabilized a paramagnetic valence tautomer Mn(IV)(O)(TBP8Cz(•+))(LA), which was characterized as a second π-radical cation complex by NMR, EPR, UV-vis, and high resolution cold spray ionization MS. The Mn(IV)(O)(TBP8Cz(•+))(LA) complexes are able to abstract H(•) from phenols and exhibit a rate enhancement of up to ∼100-fold over the parent Mn(V)(O) valence tautomer. In contrast, a large decrease in rate is observed for OAT for the Mn(IV)(O)(TBP8Cz(•+))(LA) complexes. The rate enhancement for hydrogen atom transfer (HAT) may derive from the higher redox potential for the π-radical cation complex, while the large rate decrease seen for OAT may come from a decrease in electrophilicity for an Mn(IV)(O) versus Mn(V)(O) complex.