3.3- Dimethylallyl diphosphate

Isoprene itself is not the true biological precursor of terpenoids. As we ll see in Chapter 27, nature instead uses two "isoprene equivalents"—isopentenvl diphosphate and dimethylallyl diphosphate—which are themselves made by two different routes depending on the organism. Lanosterol, in particular, is biosynthesized from acetic acid by a complex pathway that has been worked out in great detail. 

Two SN1 reactions occur during the biosynthesis of geraniol, a fragrant alcohol found in roses and used in perfumery. Geraniol biosynthesis begins with dissociation of dimethylallyl diphosphate to give an allylic carbocation, which reacts with isopentenyl diphosphate (Figure IT 15). From the viewpoint of isopentenyl diphosphate, the reaction is an electrophilic alkene addition, but from tile viewpoint of dimethylallyl diphosphate, the process in an Sjjl reaction in which the carbocation intermediate reacts with a double bond as the nucleophile. 

Figure 11.15 Biosynthesis of geraniol from dimethylallyl diphosphate. Two Sfvjl reactions occur, both with diphosphate ion as the leaving group.

The conversion of isopentenyl diphosphate (IPP) to terpenoids begins with its isomerization to dimethylallyl diphosphate, abbreviated DMAPP and formerly called dimethylallyl pyrophosphate. These two C5 building blocks then combine to give the C10 unit geranyl diphosphate (GPP). The corresponding alcohol, geraniol, is itself a fragrant terpenoid that occurs in rose oil. 

Figure 27.9 Mechanism of the coupling reaction of dimethylallyl diphosphate (DMAPP) and isopentenyl diphosphate (IPP), to give geranyl diphosphate (GPP).

Assume that the three terpenoids in Problem 27.24 are derived biosyntheti-cally from isopenteny diphosphate and dimethylallyl diphosphate, each of which was isotopically labeled at the diphosphate-bearing carbon atom (Cl). At what positions would the terpenoids be isotopically labeled ... 

Dimethylallyl diphosphate, biosynthesis of, 1077 geranio biosynthesis and. 382 cis-1,2-Dimethylcyclohexane. 

Isopentenyl diphosphate is isomerized by a shift of the double bond to form dimethylallyl diphosphate, then condensed with another molecule of isopentenyl diphosphate to form the ten-carbon intermediate ger-anyl diphosphate (Figure 26-2). A further condensation with isopentenyl diphosphate forms farnesyl diphosphate. Two molecules of farnesyl diphosphate condense at the diphosphate end to form squalene. Initially, inorganic pyrophosphate is eliminated, forming presqualene diphosphate, which is then reduced by NADPH with elimination of a further inorganic pyrophosphate molecule. 

Rodriguez-Concepcion, M., Campos, N., Lois, L.M. et al. (2000) Genetic evidence of branching in the isoprenoid pathway for the production of isopentenyl diphosphate and dimethylallyl diphosphate in Escherichia coli. FEBS Letters, 473, 328-332. 

Figure 73. The carotenoid biosynthetic pathway. Enzymes are named according to the designation of their genes Ccs, capsanthin-capsorubin synthase CrtL-b, lycopene-b-cyclase CrtL-e, lycopene-e-cyclase CrtR-b, b-ring hydroxylase, CrtR-e, e-ring hydroxylase DMADP, dimethylallyl diphosphate GGDP, geranylgeranyl diphosphate Ggps, geranylgeranyl-diphosphate synthase IDP, isopentenyl diphosphate Ipi, IDP isomerase Pds, phytoene desaturase Psy, phytoene synthase Vde, violaxanthin de-epoxidase Zds, z-carotene desaturase Zep, zeaxanthin epoxidase. (From van den Berg and others 2000.)...

McClard, R.W., Fujita, T.S., Stremler, K.E., and Poulter, C.D., Novel phospho-nylphosphinyl (P-C-P-C-) analogues of biochemically interesting diphosphates. Syntheses and properties of P-C-P-C- analogues of isopentenyl diphosphate and dimethylallyl diphosphate, ]. Am. Chem. Soc., 109,5544,1987. 

Ginsenosides are bios)mthesized via the isoprenoid pathway in the cytosol with mevalonic acid as the precursor for isopentenyl diphosphate (IFF) and dimethylallyl diphosphate (DMAPP), which are the two C5 starting units in the bios)mthesis of ginsenosides and other terpenoids... 

Fig. 2. Schematic representation of paclitaxel biosynthesis. Dimethylallyl-diphosphate and isopentenyl-diphosphate are condensed through geranylgeranyl diphosphate synthase activity to render geranylgeranyl-diphosphate (GGPP). GGPP is converted into taxa-4(5), 11 (12)-diene in a reaction catalyzed by the taxane synthase (TS). A series of reactions catalyzed by cytochrome P450 monoxygenases lead to the production of a taxane intermediate that is further converted to baccatin III through enzymes-driven oxidation and oxetane ring formation. The side chain moiety of paclitaxel is derived from L-phenylalanine. Three consecutive arrows mean multiple steps. Ac, acetyl Bz, benzoyl.

The compound dimethylallyl diphosphate provides an excellent example of a natural product with a diphosphate leaving group that can be displaced in a nucleophilic substitution reaction. Suitable nucleophiles are hydroxyl groups, e.g. a phenol, though frequently an electron-rich nucleophilic carbon is employed. Dimethylallyl diphosphate is a precursor of many natural products that contain in their structures branched-chain C5 subunits termed isoprene units. 

Geranyl diphosphate and farnesyl diphosphate are analogues of dimethylallyl diphosphate that contain two and three C5 subunits respectively they can undergo exactly the same SnI reactions as does dimethylallyl diphosphate. In all cases, a carbocation mechanism is favoured by the resonance stabilization of the allylic carbocation. Dimethylallyl diphosphate, geranyl diphosphate, and farnesyl diphosphate are precursors for natural terpenoids and steroids. 

Isopentenyl diphosphate isomerase catalyzes the isomerization of isopentenyl diphosphate to dimethylallyl diphosphate (Equation (6)) " ... 

Formation of squalene. Isopentenyl diphosphate undergoes isomerization to form dimethylallyl diphosphate. The two C5 molecules condense to yield geranyl diphosphate, and the addition of another isopentenyl diphosphate produces farnesyl diphosphate. This can then undergo dimerization, in a head-to-head reaction, to yield squalene. Farnesyl diphosphate is also the starting-point for other polyisoprenoids, such as doli-chol (see p. 230) and ubiquinone (see p. 52). 

This enzyme [EC 2.5.1.1] (also referred to as prenyl-transferase and geranyl-diphosphate synthase) catalyzes the reaction of dimethylallyl diphosphate and isopen-tenyl diphosphate to produce geranyl diphosphate and pyrophosphate (or, diphosphate). The enzyme will not accept larger prenyl diphosphates as substrates. 

This enzyme [EC 2.5.1.11], also known as nonaprenyl-diphosphate synthase and solanesyl-diphosphate synthase, catalyzes the reaction of all-tra -octaprenyl diphosphate with isopentenyl diphosphate to produce all- ra 5-nonaprenyl diphosphate and pyrophosphate. The enzyme will also utilize geranyl diphosphate and di -trans-pxQny diphosphates of intermediate size as substrates, but it will not use dimethylallyl diphosphate. 

Phytoene synthase [EC 2.5.1.32] (also known as gera-nylgeranyl-diphosphate geranylgeranyltransferase and prephytoene-diphosphate synthase) catalyzes the reaction of two geranylgeranyl diphosphate to produce pyrophosphate (or, diphosphate) and prephytoene diphosphate. Isopentenyl pyrophosphate isomerase [EC 5.3.3.2] catalyzes the interconversion of isopentenyl diphosphate and dimethylallyl diphosphate. See also Geranylgeranyl Diphosphate Geranylgeranyltransferase... 

This dependence on light levels and temperature is believed to be due to the mechanism of production of isoprene in the plant, which involves the enzyme isoprene synthetase and dimethylallyl diphosphate (DMAPP) as a precursor to isoprene (e.g., see Silver and Fall, 1995 and Monson et al., 1995). Either the enzyme, the formation of DMAPP, or both may be light sensitive (Wildermuth and Fall, 1996). The temperature effect has been attributed to effects on the enzyme, increasing its activity initially and then leading to irreversible denaturation (and/or possibly membrane damage) (Fall and Wildermuth, 1998). 

As a general comment, the cations that have been implicated in such biosyntheses are of the type for which analogues have been observed in superacids. However, many of these cations, (e.g., 106 and 109) would have a questionable existence as a free cation in an aqueous solution. This finding raises an interesting question whether they do have more than a fleeting existence within the active site of the enzyme. Does the enzyme provide some form of stabilization, such as that suggested when 106 is formed in the active site of isopentenyl diphosphate dimethylallyl diphosphate isomerase ... 

A second example is isomerization of isopentenyl diphosphate to dimethylallyl diphosphate (Eq. 13-56) 304-307 The stereochemistry has been investigated using the 3H-labeled compound shown in Eq. 13-56. The pro-R proton is lost from C-2 and a proton is added to the re face at C-4. When the reaction was carried out in 2H20 a chiral methyl group was produced as shown.304 A concerted proton addition and abstraction is also possible, the observed trans stereochemistry being expected for such a mechanism. However, the... 

Dihydroxyproline 80 Diiron desaturases 863 Diiron oxygenases 863 Diiron proteins 862-864 Diiron-tyrosinate proteins 862-863 Diisopropylfluorophosphate (DFP, diisopropylphosphofluoridate) 610s Dimethylallyl diphosphate 712s Dimethylallyl pyrophosphate, condensation of 527... 

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