Chen Bin, Li Renjie, Feng Jianqiang, Zhao Beibei, Zhang Jiawei, Yu Jinhai, Xu Yuanyuan, Xing Zhongqiu, Zhao Yue, Wang Binju, Huang Xiaoqiang
State Key Laboratory of Coordination Chemistry, Chemistry and Biomedicine Innovation Center (ChemBIC), School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China.
State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces and Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Theoretical and Computational Chemistry, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China.
J Am Chem Soc. 2024 May 22;146(20):14278-14286. doi: 10.1021/jacs.4c03879. Epub 2024 May 10.
The development of catalysts serves as the cornerstone of innovation in synthesis, as exemplified by the recent discovery of photoenzymes. However, the repertoire of naturally occurring enzymes repurposed by direct light excitation to catalyze new-to-nature photobiotransformations is currently limited to flavoproteins and keto-reductases. Herein, we shed light on imine reductases (IREDs) that catalyze the remote C(sp)-C(sp) bond formation, providing a previously elusive radical hydroalkylation of enamides for accessing chiral amines (45 examples with up to 99% enantiomeric excess). Beyond their natural function in catalyzing two-electron reductive amination reactions, upon direct visible-light excitation or in synergy with a synthetic photoredox catalyst, IREDs are repurposed to tune the non-natural photoinduced single-electron radical processes. By conducting wet mechanistic experiments and computational simulations, we unravel how engineered IREDs direct radical intermediates toward the productive and enantioselective pathway. This work represents a promising paradigm for harnessing nature's catalysts for new-to-nature asymmetric transformations that remain challenging through traditional chemocatalytic methods.
催化剂的发展是合成创新的基石,光酶的最新发现就是例证。然而,通过直接光激发来催化新型光生物转化的天然酶的种类目前仅限于黄素蛋白和酮还原酶。在此,我们揭示了催化远程C(sp)-C(sp)键形成的亚胺还原酶(IREDs),为制备手性胺提供了一种以前难以实现的烯酰胺自由基氢烷基化反应(45个实例,对映体过量高达99%)。除了其催化双电子还原胺化反应的天然功能外,在直接可见光激发下或与合成光氧化还原催化剂协同作用时,IREDs可被重新利用以调控非天然光诱导单电子自由基过程。通过进行湿化学机理实验和计算模拟,我们揭示了工程化的IREDs如何将自由基中间体导向生产性和对映选择性途径。这项工作代表了一种利用天然催化剂实现新型不对称转化的有前景的范例,而这些转化通过传统化学催化方法仍然具有挑战性。