Enantiokomplementäre Enzyme: Klassifizierung, molekulare Grundlage der Enantiopräferenz und Prognosen für spiegelbildliche Biotransformationen

An Enzymatic Platform for the Highly Enantioselective and Stereodivergent Construction of Cyclopropyl-δ-lactones

Abiological enzymes offers new opportunities for sustainable chemistry. Herein, we report the development of biological catalysts derived from sperm whale myoglobin that exploit a carbene transfer mechanism for the asymmetric synthesis of cyclopropane-fused-δ-lactones, which are key structural motifs found in many biologically active natural products. While hemin, wild-type myoglobin, and other hemoproteins are unable to catalyze this reaction, the myoglobin scaffold could be remodeled by protein engineering to permit the intramolecular cyclopropanation of a broad spectrum of homoallylic diazoacetate substrates in high yields and with up to 99 % enantiomeric excess. Via an alternate evolutionary trajectory, a stereodivergent biocatalyst was also obtained for affording mirror-image forms of the desired bicyclic products. In combination with whole-cell transformations, the myoglobin-based biocatalyst was used for the asymmetric construction of a cyclopropyl-δ-lactone scaffold at a gram scale, which could be further elaborated to furnish a variety of enantiopure trisubstituted cyclopropanes.

Gram-Scale Synthesis of Chiral Cyclopropane-Containing Drugs and Drug Precursors with Engineered Myoglobin Catalysts Featuring Complementary Stereoselectivity

Engineered hemoproteins have recently emerged as promising systems for promoting asymmetric cyclopropanations, but variants featuring predictable, complementary stereoselectivity in these reactions have remained elusive. In this study, a rationally driven strategy was implemented and applied to engineer myoglobin variants capable of providing access to 1-carboxy-2-aryl-cyclopropanes with high trans-(1R,2R) selectivity and catalytic activity. The stereoselectivity of these cyclopropanation biocatalysts complements that of trans-(1S,2S)-selective variants developed here and previously. In combination with whole-cell biotransformations, these stereocomplementary biocatalysts enabled the multigram synthesis of the chiral cyclopropane core of four drugs (Tranylcypromine, Tasimelteon, Ticagrelor, and a TRPV1 inhibitor) in high yield and with excellent diastereo- and enantioselectivity (98-99.9% de; 96-99.9% ee). These biocatalytic strategies outperform currently available methods to produce these drugs.

Hydroxynitrile lyases with α/β-hydrolase fold: two enzymes with almost identical 3D structures but opposite enantioselectivities and different reaction mechanisms

Hydroxynitrile lyases (HNLs) catalyze the cleavage of cyanohydrins to yield hydrocyanic acid (HCN) and the respective carbonyl compound and are key enzymes in the process of cyanogenesis in plants. In organic syntheses, HNLs are used as biocatalysts for the formation of enantiopure cyanohydrins. We determined the structure of the recently identified, R-selective HNL from Arabidopsis thaliana (AtHNL) at a crystallographic resolution of 2.5 Å. The structure exhibits an α/β-hydrolase fold, very similar to the homologous, but S-selective, HNL from Hevea brasiliensis (HbHNL). The similarities also extend to the active sites of these enzymes, with a Ser-His-Asp catalytic triad present in all three cases. In order to elucidate the mode of substrate binding and to understand the unexpected opposite enantioselectivity of AtHNL, complexes of the enzyme with both (R)- and (S)-mandelonitrile were modeled using molecular docking simulations. Compared to the complex of HbHNL with (S)-mandelonitrile, the calculations produced an approximate mirror image binding mode of the substrate with the phenyl rings located at very similar positions, but with the cyano groups pointing in opposite directions. A catalytic mechanism for AtHNL is proposed, in which His236 from the catalytic triad acts as a general base and the emerging negative charge on the cyano group is stabilized by main-chain amide groups and an α-helix dipole very similar to α/β-hydrolases. This mechanistic proposal is additionally supported by mutagenesis studies.