Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California 93106, United States.
Department of Chemistry, University of California Davis, Davis, California 95616, United States.
J Am Chem Soc. 2024 Aug 14;146(32):22476-22484. doi: 10.1021/jacs.4c05949. Epub 2024 Jul 4.
Visible light-driven pyridoxal radical biocatalysis has emerged as a promising strategy for the stereoselective synthesis of valuable noncanonical amino acids (ncAAs). Previously, the use of well-tailored photoredox catalysts represented the key to enable efficient pyridoxal phosphate (PLP) enzyme-catalyzed radical reactions. Here, we report a PLP-dependent threonine aldolase-catalyzed asymmetric α-C-H alkylation of abundant amino acids using Katritzky pyridinium salts as alkylating agents. The use of engineered threonine aldolases allowed for this redox-neutral radical alkylation to proceed efficiently, giving rise to challenging α-trisubstituted and -tetrasubstituted ncAA products in a protecting-group-free fashion with excellent enantiocontrol. Mechanistically, this enantioselective α-alkylation capitalizes on the unique reactivity of the persistent enzymatic quinonoid intermediate derived from the PLP cofactor and the amino acid substrate to allow for novel radical C-C coupling. Surprisingly, this photobiocatalytic process does not require the use of well-established photoredox catalysts and operates through an unconventional photoinduced radical generation involving a PLP-derived aldimine. The ability to develop photobiocatalytic reactions without relying on classic photocatalysts or photoenzymes opens up new avenues for advancing stereoselective intermolecular radical reactions that are not known in either organic chemistry or enzymology.
可见光驱动的吡哆醛自由基生物催化已成为立体选择性合成有价值的非天然氨基酸(ncAAs)的一种很有前途的策略。此前,使用精心设计的光氧化还原催化剂是实现高效吡哆醛磷酸(PLP)酶催化自由基反应的关键。在这里,我们报告了一种使用 Katritzky 吡啶鎓盐作为烷基化试剂的依赖 PLP 的苏氨酸醛缩酶催化的丰富氨基酸的不对称α-C-H 烷基化。工程化的苏氨酸醛缩酶允许这种氧化还原中性的自由基烷基化有效地进行,以无保护基的方式生成具有优异对映选择性控制的具有挑战性的α-三取代和四取代 ncAA 产物。在机制上,这种对映选择性的α-烷基化利用了来自 PLP 辅因子和氨基酸底物的持久酶醌型中间体的独特反应性,从而允许新的自由基 C-C 偶联。令人惊讶的是,这种光生物催化过程不需要使用成熟的光氧化还原催化剂,而是通过一种涉及 PLP 衍生的亚胺的非常规光诱导自由基生成来进行。无需依赖经典光催化剂或光酶即可开发光生物催化反应的能力为推进立体选择性的分子间自由基反应开辟了新的途径,这些反应在有机化学或酶学中都不为人知。