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Relevant academic research and scientific papers

Regio- and stereoselective synthesis of chiral nitrilolactones using Baeyer–Villiger monooxygenases

This work describes the regio- and enantioselective synthesis of nitrile-containing chiral lactones from easily accessible ketone precursors using Baeyer–Villiger monooxygenases. These biocatalysts controlled the distribution of regioisomers much more tightly than commonly used stoichiometric reagents, additionally with good to excellent optical purity of products. A surprising case of strong stereoelectronic control was also observed. We tested a library of 14 catalysts using five-to eight-membered cyclic ketones with two different tether lengths to the nitrile group. In all but the largest series we found suitable wild-type enzymes for preparative scale synthesis of the target compounds. The diverse possibilities to further functionalize lactones and nitriles make this method interesting for the generation of chiral building blocks.

Enantioselective oxidation by a cyclohexanone monooxygenase from the xenobiotic-degrading Polaromonas sp. strain JS666

A cyclohexanone monooxygenase (CHMO) from the xenobiotic-degrading Polaromonas sp. strain JS666 was heterologously expressed in Escherichia coli, and its ability to catalyze enantio- and regiodivergent oxidations of prochiral and racemic ketones was investigated. The expression system was also used to evaluate this enzyme's potential role in the oxidation of cis-1,2-dichloroethene (cDCE), a groundwater pollutant for which strain JS666 is the only known assimilator. The substrate enantiopreference and -selectivity of the strain JS666 CHMO is similar to that of other CHMO-type enzymes; of note is this enzyme's excellent stereodiscrimination of 2-substituted cyclic ketones. The expression system exhibits no activity with ethene or cDCE as substrates under the tested conditions. Phylogenetic analysis shows that sequence variability among cyclohexanone monooxygenases could be a rich source of new enzyme activities and attributes.

Induced allostery in the directed evolution of an enantioselective Baeyer-Villiger monooxygenase

The molecular basis of allosteric effects, known to be caused by an effector docking to an enzyme at a site distal from the binding pocket, has been studied recently by applying directed evolution. Here, we utilize laboratory evolution in a different way, namely to induce allostery by introducing appropriate distal mutations that cause domain movements with concomitant reshaping of the binding pocket in the absence of an effector. To test this concept, the thermostable Baeyer-Villiger monooxygenase, phenylacetone monooxygenase (PAMO), was chosen as the enzyme to be employed in asymmetric Baeyer-Villiger reactions of substrates that are not accepted by the wild type. By using the known X-ray structure of PAMO, a decision was made regarding an appropriate site at which saturation mutagenesis is most likely to generate mutants capable of inducing allostery without any effector compound being present. After screening only 400 transformants, a double mutant was discovered that catalyzes the asymmetric oxidative kinetic resolution of a set of structurally different 2-substituted cyclohexanone derivatives as well as the desymmetrization of three different 4-substituted cyclohexanones, all with high enantioselectivity. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and covariance maps unveiled the origin of increased substrate scope as being due to allostery. Large domain movements occur that expose and reshape the binding pocket. This type of focused library production, aimed at inducing significant allosteric effects, is a viable alternative to traditional approaches to designed directed evolution that address the binding site directly.

Laboratory evolution of robust and enantioselective Baeyer-Villiger monooxygenases for asymmetric catalysis

The Baeyer-Villiger Monooxygenase, Phenylacetone Monooxygenase (PAMO), recently discovered by Fraaije, Janssen, and co-workers, is unusually thermostable, which makes it a promising candidate for catalyzing enantioselective Baeyer-Villiger reactions in organic chemistry. Unfortunately, however, its substrate scope is very limited, reasonable reaction rates being observed essentially only with phenylacetone and similar linear phenyl-substituted analogs. Previous protein engineering attempts to broaden the range of substrate acceptance and to control enantioselectivity have been met with limited success, including rational design and directed evolution based on saturation mutagenesis with formation of focused mutant libraries, which may have to do with complex domain movements. In the present study, a new approach to laboratory evolution is described which has led to mutants showing unusually high activity and enantioselectivity in the oxidative kinetic resolution of a variety of 2-aryl and 2-alkylcyclohexanones which are not accepted by the wild-type (WT) PAMO and of a structurally very different bicyclic ketone. The new strategy exploits bioinformatics data derived from sequence alignment of eight different Baeyer-Villiger Monooxygenases, which in conjunction with the known X-ray structure of PAMO and induced fit docking suggests potential randomization sites, different from all previous approaches to focused library generation. Sites harboring highly conserved proline in a loop of the WT are targeted. The most active and enantioselective mutants retain the high thermostability of the parent WT PAMO. The success of the "proline" hypothesis in the present system calls for further testing in future laboratory evolution studies.