Epoxides with enzymes

Ring opening of epoxides with nucleophiles other than water (Cl, BrT I, NOz , CN ) can also be catalyzed by halohydrin dehalogenase enzymes (EC 3.8.1.5, also named haloalkane dehalogenase or haloalcohd dehalogenase) (Figure 6.74) [197]. 

A new type of mechanism-based enzyme-inactivators, which are related to conduritol epoxides with respect to activation at the active site, was introduced by Tong and Ganem, " who prepared the aziridine 37 from the o-galacto analog of 1-deoxynojirimycin. Compound 37 proved to be a pp-... 

This is the first example of a reaction for which the presence of a chelating ligand was observed to facilitate rather than retard metal-catalysed epoxidation (Gao et al., 1987). It was found that the use of molecular sieves greatly improves this process by removing minute amounts of water present in the reaction medium. Water was found to deactivate the catalyst. All these developments led to an improved catalytic version that allows a five-fold increased substrate concentration relative to the stoichiometric method. Sensitive water-soluble, optically active glycidols can be prepared in an efficient manner by an in situ derivatisation. This epoxidation method appears to be competitive with enzyme-catalysed processes and was applied in 1981 for the commercial production of the gypsy moth pheromone, (-1-) disparlure, used for insect control (Eqn. (25)). 

Oxidizing enzymes use molecular oxygen as the oxidant, but epoxidation with synthetic metalloporphyrins needs a chemical oxidant, except for one example Groves and Quinn have reported that dioxo-ruthenium porphyrin (19) catalyzes epoxidation using molecular oxygen.69 An asymmetric version of this aerobic epoxidation has been achieved by using complex (7) as the catalyst, albeit with moderate enantioselectivity (Scheme 9).53... 

This epoxidation of AFB has been associated with aldrin epoxidase (AE) activity in trout (30). As with other epoxide carcinogens, OAFB may be a substrate 7or epoxide metabolizing enzyme systems such as epoxide hydrase (EH) (EC4.2.1.63) and glutathione-S-epoxide transferase (GTr) (EC4.4.1.7) found in mammals and fish (31, 32, 33, 34). AFB also undergoes a variety of other reactions, generally to less toxic metabolites depending on the species of animal involved (35, 36). The primary AFB metabolite in rainbow trout has been shown to be a reduced form of AFB, aflatoxicol (AFL) (24). 

In connection with our own work on the enzyme-catalysed hydrolysis of cyclohexene epoxide with various fungi we made the unexpected observation that the microorganism Corynesporia casssiicola DSM 62475 was able to interconvert the (1R,2R) and (1S,2S) enantiomers of the product, trans cyclohexan-1,2-dioI 25. As the reaction proceeded the (1R,2R) enantiomer was converted to the (1S,2S) enantiomer [20]. If the racemic trans diol 25 was incubated with the growing fungus over 5 days, optically pure (> 99 % e. e.) (1 S,2S) diol 25 could be isolated in 85% yield. Similarly biotransformation of cis (meso) cycIohexan-1,2-diol 26 yielded the (1S,2S) diol 25 in 41 % (unoptimized) yield (Scheme 11). 

A direct comparison of catalysis of olefin epoxidation with a homogeneous chemical catalyst (Mn salen), an enzyme (CPO), and an antibody resulted in sufficiently high enantioselectivity for all three catalysts, a higher turnover number for the enzyme, and a slightly higher substrate/catalyst ratio for the homogenous catalyst. Criteria for comparison should be quantitative and include catalyst lifetime as well as volumetric productivities, but have been found to depend on the different needs of laboratory synthetic chemists, who need a broadly specific catalyst quickly, versus those of process chemists, who often control catalyst availability and can allow narrow specificity (provided their substrate is accepted) but need high productivity. 

The metabolism of PAH compounds is mentioned here with benzo(a)pyrene as an example. Several steps lead to the formation of the carcinogenic metabolite product of benzo(a)pyrene. After an initial oxidation to form the 7,8-epoxide, the 7,8-diol is produced through the action of epoxide hydrase enzyme, as shown by the following reaction ... 

Conceptually new multifunctional asymmetric two-center catalysts, such as the Ln-BINOL derivative, LnMB, AMB, and GaMB have been developed. These catalysts function both as Brpnsted bases and as Lewis acids, making possible various catalytic, asymmetric reactions in a manner analogous to enzyme catalysis. Several such catalytic asymmetric reactions are now being investigated for potential industrial applications. Recently, the catalytic enantioselective opening of meso epoxides with thiols in the presence of a heterobimetallic complex has... 

The latter reaction sequence was of importance since addition of the thiol glutathione to arene-oxide intermediates under control of hepatic glutathione-S-epoxide transferase enzyme(s) is a very important metabolic transformation. It would appear probable that most of the structures of the arene oxide-glutathione adducts (premercapturic acids) reported in the literature before 1975 are incorrect with respect to the position of the hydroxy and thioether substituents (they should now be reversed). Addition of thiomethoxide anion to arene oxide 70 may occur via 1,6- and 1,4-addition, although one of these thioether adducts could also be accounted for by the alternative arene-oxide intermediate obtained from an oxygen-walk. Styrene 3,4-oxide (S3) has been observed to react with ethanethiol to yield three adducts which appear to aromatize to three isomeric ethylthiostyrenes without the formation of episulphonium intermediates. ... 

In some cases. Phase I metabolites may not be detected, owing to their instability or high chemical reactivity. The latter type are often electrophilic substances, called reactive intermediates, which frequently react non-enzymically as well as enzymically with conjugating nucleophiles to produce a Phase II metabolite. A common example of this type is the oxidative biotransformation of an aromatic ring and conjugation of the resulting arene oxide (epoxide) with the tripeptide glutathione. Detection of metabolites derived from this pathway often points to the formation of precursor reactive electrophilic Phase I metabolites, whose existence is nonetheless only inferred. 

Boyland, E., Williams, K. An enzyme catalysing the conjugation of epoxides with glutathione. Biochem. J. 94, 190 (1965). 

Figure 43-1 I Schematic view of the role of NAT enzymes in the metabolism of aromatic amines. N-acetylation might be a detoxification reaction in a number of cases however, after N-hydroxylation of aromatic amines (e.g., by CYP enzymes), NAT enzymes can bioactivate these intermediates by either 0-acetylation or intramolecular N,0-acety transfer, leading to the formation of nitrenium ions, which might react with DNA or alternatively be detoxified by, for example, GST enzymes. Importantly, it is shown that a number of other biotransformation enzymes are also involved in the metabolism of aromatic amines as well. (Redrawn from Wormhoudt LW, Commandeur jNM, Vermeuien NPE. Genetic polymorphisms of human N-acetyitransferase, cytochrome P450, glutathione-S-transferase, and epoxide hydrolase enzymes relevance to xenobiotic metabolism and toxicity. Crit Rev Toxicol 1999 29 59-124. Reproduced by permission from Taylor and Francis, Inc.)...

In pursuit of biomimetic catalysts, metaUoporphyrins have been extensively studied in attempts to mimic the active site of cytochrome P450, which is an enzyme that catalyzes oxidation reactions in organisms. In recent decades, catalysis of alkene epoxidation with metaUoporphyrins has received considerable attention. It has been found that iron [1-3], manganese [4,5], chromium [6], and cobalt porphyrins can be used as model compounds for the active site of cytochrome P450, and oxidants such as iodosylbenzene, sodium hypochlorite [7,8], hydrogen peroxide [9], and peracetic acid [10] have been shown to work for these systems at ambient temperature and pressure. While researchers have learned a great deal about these catalysts, several practical issues limit their applicability, especially deactivation. 

Drug Interactions. Levetiracetam neither inhibits nor indnces the CYP450, UGT, or epoxide hydrolase enzyme systems, and in vitro data predict a low potential for pharmacokinetic interactions. Levetiracetam does not appear to interact with other AEDs, warfarin, digoxin, or oral contraceptive drngs. ° ... 

Another example where an enzyme is used to mediate a completely different reaction than it normally does is the lipase-catalyzed formation of peracids by reaction of H202 with a carboxylic acid [43]. As illustrated in Fig. 15 this allows for the one step epoxidation of olefins by in situ formation of RC03H. The carboxylic acid can be used in catalytic amounts providing an overall epoxidation with H202. By a suitable choice of carboxylic acid the reaction can be carried out in a two-phase system. The scope of such novel transformations must be enormous. 

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