The diverse and pervasive chemistries of the alpha-keto acid dependent enzymes.

The number of identified and confirmed alpha-keto acid dependent oxygenases is increasing rapidly. All of these enzymes have a relatively simple liganding arrangement for a single ferrous ion but collectively conduct a highly diverse set of chemistries. While hydroxylations and a variety of oxidation reactions have been most commonly observed, new reactions involving dealkylations, epimerizations and halogenations have recently been discovered. In this minireview we present what is known of the alpha-keto acid dependent enzymes and offer an argument that the chemistry that is unique to each enzyme occurs only after the production of a pivotal ferryl-oxo intermediate.