Kato Shunsuke, Fujisawa Shuto, Adachi Yuto, Bandai Mitsuhiro, Mori Yutaro, Mori Seiji, Shirai Tomokazu, Hayashi Takashi
Department of Applied Chemistry, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University, Suita 565-0871, Japan.
Institute of Quantum Beam Science, Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Ibaraki University, Mito 310-8512, Japan.
J Am Chem Soc. 2025 Apr 30;147(17):14837-14844. doi: 10.1021/jacs.5c04484. Epub 2025 Apr 15.
Cross-coupling reactions between short-lifetime radicals are challenging reactions in organic chemistry. Here, we report the development of an -heterocyclic carbene (NHC)-mediated radical coupling reaction based on the catalytic machinery of thiamine- and flavin-dependent enzymes. Through a series of enzyme screenings, we found that acetolactate synthase from (TbALS) and its engineered variants exhibit promising catalytic activity toward abiotic radical acylation reactions of α-bromo carbonyl compounds. Notably, the TbALS variant has higher catalytic activity for small nonaromatic substrates despite forming less stable radical intermediates. Furthermore, the catalytic system of TbALS can be applied to photocatalytic reactions utilizing the photoredox properties of FAD. Nonbenzylic alkyl radicals generated from -acyloxyphthalimides are efficiently converted into the corresponding dialkyl ketones under irradiation of a blue LED. These findings highlight the utility of thiamine- and flavin-dependent enzymes for achieving selective cross-coupling reactions of short-lifetime radicals.
短寿命自由基之间的交叉偶联反应是有机化学中具有挑战性的反应。在此,我们报道了一种基于硫胺素和黄素依赖性酶催化机制的N - 杂环卡宾(NHC)介导的自由基偶联反应的开发。通过一系列酶筛选,我们发现来自嗜热栖热菌(TbALS)的乙酰乳酸合酶及其工程变体对α - 溴羰基化合物的非生物自由基酰化反应表现出有前景的催化活性。值得注意的是,尽管形成的自由基中间体稳定性较低,但TbALS变体对小的非芳香族底物具有更高的催化活性。此外,TbALS的催化体系可应用于利用FAD光氧化还原性质的光催化反应。在蓝色发光二极管照射下,由N - 酰氧基邻苯二甲酰亚胺产生的非苄基烷基自由基能有效地转化为相应的二烷基酮。这些发现突出了硫胺素和黄素依赖性酶在实现短寿命自由基选择性交叉偶联反应中的实用性。