Wu Dongshan, Sun Zeying, Wang Sanshan, Yang Jun, He Jingyuan, Lei Xiaoguang
Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Key Laboratory of Bioorganic Chemistry and Molecular Engineering of the Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.
JACS Au. 2025 Jul 11;5(7):3625-3631. doi: 10.1021/jacsau.5c00633. eCollection 2025 Jul 28.
Organic nitriles are significant in pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, cosmetics, and materials. Although numerous cyanidation methods have been developed, more eco-friendly and green protocols for manufacturing alkyl nitriles are in high demand. Here, we report a photoenzymatic enantioselective intermolecular hydrocyanoalkylation of alkenes catalyzed by flavin-dependent "ene"-reductases. The discovery of stereocomplementary enzymes that provide access to both enantiomers of the high-value nitriles further showcases the synthetic applications of this method. Radical trapping, isotopic labeling, and spectroscopic experiments have elucidated the formation of a charge transfer complex at the protein active site. The single-electron reduction of the cyanoalkyl radical precursor by flavin hydroquinone yields a cyanoalkyl radical, which then undergoes intermolecular radical addition. This active site can stereoselectively control the radical-terminating hydrogen atom transfer, enabling the synthesis of enantioenriched γ-stereogenic nitriles. This work further expands the reactivity repertoire of biocatalytic transformations via non-natural radical mechanisms.
有机腈在制药、农用化学品、化妆品和材料领域具有重要意义。尽管已经开发出了许多氰化方法,但对更环保、更绿色的烷基腈制造方法仍有很高的需求。在此,我们报道了一种由黄素依赖性“烯”还原酶催化的烯烃的光酶对映选择性分子间氢氰基烷基化反应。能够获得高价值腈类对映体的立体互补酶的发现进一步展示了该方法的合成应用。自由基捕获、同位素标记和光谱实验阐明了在蛋白质活性位点形成电荷转移复合物的过程。黄素对苯二酚对氰基烷基自由基前体的单电子还原产生氰基烷基自由基,然后该自由基进行分子间自由基加成。这个活性位点可以立体选择性地控制自由基终止氢原子转移,从而能够合成对映体富集的γ-立体异构腈。这项工作通过非天然自由基机制进一步扩展了生物催化转化的反应范围。