Anti-Markovnikov alkene oxidation by metal-oxo –mediated enzyme catalysis

Anti-Markovnikov alkene oxidation by metal-oxo –mediated enzyme catalysisByStephan C. Hammer,Grzegorz Kubik,Ella Watkins,Shan Huang,Hannah Minges,Frances H. ArnoldScience13 Oct 2017 : 215-218Directed evolution modifies cytochrome P450 to catalyze an unnatural reaction that has bedeviled chemical catalysis.There has been a recent flurry of activity in modifying enzymes to conduct unnatural chemical reactions more cleanly or selectively than synthetic chemical catalysts. Hammeret al. now report application of a cytochrome P450 variant to an oxidation that has largely eluded efficient catalysis. They used directed evolution to mutate the enzyme so that it placed oxygen at the less substituted carbon of the C=C double bond in styrenes, forming aldehyde products. They thereby attained opposite site selectivity to that of the widely used palladium-catalyzed Wacker-Tsuji oxidation.

Source: Organometallic Current - October 13, 2017 Category: Chemistry Tags: Anti Morkovnikov Enzyme catalyzed Fe catalyzed oxidation Source Type: blogs