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1. Alternative Reactivity of Leucine 5-Hydroxylase Using an Olefin-Containing Substrate to Construct a Substituted Piperidine Ring.

   https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.biochem.0c00289  

   Cha, L.; Milikisiyants, S.; Davidson, M.; Xue, S.; Smirnova, T. I.; Smirnov, A. I.; Guo, Y.; Chang, W.-c. (May 2020, Biochemistry)

   Booker, S (Ed.)

   Applying enzymatic reactions to produce useful molecules is a central focus of chemical biology. Iron and 2-oxoglutarate (Fe/2OG) enzymes are found in all kingdoms of life and catalyze a broad array of oxidative transformations. Herein, we demonstrate that the activity of an Fe/2OG enzyme can be redirected when changing the targeted carbon hybridization from sp3 to sp2. During leucine 5-hydroxylase catalysis, installation of an olefin group onto the substrate redirects the Fe(IV)−oxo species reactivity from hydroxylation to asymmetric epoxidation. The resulting epoxide subsequently undergoes intramolecular cyclization to form the substituted piperidine, 2S,5S-hydroxypipecolic acid. 

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2. Mechanistic analysis of carbon–carbon bond formation by deoxypodophyllotoxin synthase

   https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2113770119  

   Tang, Haoyu; Wu, Min-Hao; Lin, Hsiao-Yu; Han, Meng-Ru; Tu, Yueh-Hua; Yang, Zhi-Jie; Chien, Tun-Cheng; Chan, Nei-Li; Chang, Wei-chen (January 2022, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences)

   Deoxypodophyllotoxin contains a core of four fused rings (A to D) with three consecutive chiral centers, the last being created by the attachment of a peripheral trimethoxyphenyl ring (E) to ring C. Previous studies have suggested that the iron(II)- and 2-oxoglutarate–dependent (Fe/2OG) oxygenase, deoxypodophyllotoxin synthase (DPS), catalyzes the oxidative coupling of ring B and ring E to form ring C and complete the tetracyclic core. Despite recent efforts to deploy DPS in the preparation of deoxypodophyllotoxin analogs, the mechanism underlying the regio- and stereoselectivity of this cyclization event has not been elucidated. Herein, we report 1) two structures of DPS in complex with 2OG and (±)-yatein, 2) in vitro analysis of enzymatic reactivity with substrate analogs, and 3) model reactions addressing DPS’s catalytic mechanism. The results disfavor a prior proposal of on-pathway benzylic hydroxylation. Rather, the DPS-catalyzed cyclization likely proceeds by hydrogen atom abstraction from C7', oxidation of the benzylic radical to a carbocation, Friedel–Crafts-like ring closure, and rearomatization of ring B by C6 deprotonation. This mechanism adds to the known pathways for transformation of the carbon-centered radical in Fe/2OG enzymes and suggests what types of substrate modification are likely tolerable in DPS-catalyzed production of deoxypodophyllotoxin analogs. 

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3. Dioxygen Binding Is Controlled by the Protein Environment in Non‐heme Fe ^II and 2‐Oxoglutarate Oxygenases: A Study on Histone Demethylase PHF8 and an Ethylene‐Forming Enzyme

   https://doi.org/10.1002/chem.202300138  

   Chaturvedi, Shobhit_S; Thomas, Midhun_George; Rifayee, Simahudeen_Bathir_Jaber_Sathik; White, Walter; Wildey, Jon; Warner, Cait; Schofield, Christopher_J; Hu, Jian; Hausinger, Robert_P; Karabencheva‐Christova, Tatayana_G; et al (February 2023, Chemistry – A European Journal)

   Abstract This study investigates dioxygen binding and 2‐oxoglutarate (2OG) coordination by two model non‐heme Fe^II/2OG enzymes: a class 7 histone demethylase (PHF8) that catalyzes the hydroxylation of its H3K9me2 histone substrate leading to demethylation reactivity and the ethylene‐forming enzyme (EFE), which catalyzes two competing reactions of ethylene generation and substratel‐Arg hydroxylation. Although both enzymes initially bind 2OG by using anoff‐line2OG coordination mode, in PHF8, the substrate oxidation requires a transition to anin‐linemode, whereas EFE is catalytically productive for ethylene production from 2OG in theoff‐linemode. We used classical molecular dynamics (MD), quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM) MD and QM/MM metadynamics (QM/MM‐MetD) simulations to reveal that it is the dioxygen binding process and, ultimately, the protein environment that control the formation of thein‐lineFe^III‐OO⋅⁻intermediate in PHF8 and theoff‐lineFe^III‐OO⋅⁻intermediate in EFE. 

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4. Reactivity Differences of Trigonal Pyramidal Nonheme Iron(IV)‐Oxo and Iron(III)‐Oxo Complexes: Experiment and Theory

   https://doi.org/10.1002/chem.202300271  

   Cao, Yuanxin; Valdez‐Moreira, Juan A.; Hay, Sam; Smith, Jeremy M.; de Visser, Sam P. (July 2023, Chemistry – A European Journal)

   Abstract High‐valent metal‐oxo species play critical roles in enzymatic catalysis yet their properties are still poorly understood. In this work we report a combined experimental and computational study into biomimetic iron(IV)‐oxo and iron(III)‐oxo complexes with tight second‐coordination sphere environments that restrict substrate access. The work shows that the second‐coordination sphere slows the hydrogen atom abstraction step from toluene dramatically and the kinetics is zeroth order in substrate. However, the iron(II)‐hydroxo that is formed has a low reduction potential and hence cannot do OH rebound favorably. The tolyl radical in solution then reacts further with alternative reaction partners. By contrast, the iron(IV)‐oxo species reacts predominantly through OH rebound to form alcohol products. Our studies show that the oxidation state of the metal influences reactivities and selectivities with substrate dramatically and that enzymes will likely need an iron(IV) center to catalyze C−H hydroxylation reactions. 

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5. Octahedral iron( iv )–tosylimido complexes exhibiting single electron-oxidation reactivity

   https://doi.org/10.1039/C9SC02526J  

   Sabenya, Gerard; Gamba, Ilaria; Gómez, Laura; Clémancey, Martin; Frisch, Jonathan R.; Klinker, Eric J.; Blondin, Geneviève; Torelli, Stéphane; Que, Lawrence; Martin-Diaconescu, Vlad; et al (October 2019, Chemical Science)

   High valent iron species are very reactive molecules involved in oxidation reactions of relevance to biology and chemical synthesis. Herein we describe iron( iv )–tosylimido complexes [Fe IV (NTs)(MePy 2 tacn)](OTf) 2 ( 1(IV)NTs ) and [Fe IV (NTs)(Me 2 (CHPy 2 )tacn)](OTf) 2 ( 2(IV)NTs ), (MePy 2 tacn = N -methyl- N , N -bis(2-picolyl)-1,4,7-triazacyclononane, and Me 2 (CHPy 2 )tacn = 1-(di(2-pyridyl)methyl)-4,7-dimethyl-1,4,7-triazacyclononane, Ts = Tosyl). 1(IV)NTs and 2(IV)NTs are rare examples of octahedral iron( iv )–imido complexes and are isoelectronic analogues of the recently described iron( iv )–oxo complexes [Fe IV (O)(L)] 2+ (L = MePy 2 tacn and Me 2 (CHPy 2 )tacn, respectively). 1(IV)NTs and 2(IV)NTs are metastable and have been spectroscopically characterized by HR-MS, UV-vis, 1 H-NMR, resonance Raman, Mössbauer, and X-ray absorption (XAS) spectroscopy as well as by DFT computational methods. Ferric complexes [Fe III (HNTs)(L)] 2+ , 1(III)–NHTs (L = MePy 2 tacn) and 2(III)–NHTs (L = Me 2 (CHPy 2 )tacn) have been isolated after the decay of 1(IV)NTs and 2(IV)NTs in solution, spectroscopically characterized, and the molecular structure of [Fe III (HNTs)(MePy 2 tacn)](SbF 6 ) 2 determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction. Reaction of 1(IV)NTs and 2(IV)NTs with different p -substituted thioanisoles results in the transfer of the tosylimido moiety to the sulphur atom producing sulfilimine products. In these reactions, 1(IV)NTs and 2(IV)NTs behave as single electron oxidants and Hammett analyses of reaction rates evidence that tosylimido transfer is more sensitive than oxo transfer to charge effects. In addition, reaction of 1(IV)NTs and 2(IV)NTs with hydrocarbons containing weak C–H bonds results in the formation of 1(III)–NHTs and 2(III)–NHTs respectively, along with the oxidized substrate. Kinetic analyses indicate that reactions proceed via a mechanistically unusual HAT reaction, where an association complex precedes hydrogen abstraction. 

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