Isopentenyl pyrophosphate:dimethylallyl

Some isopentenyl pyrophosphate is converted to the isomer dimethylallyl pyrophosphate, by an isomerase that produces a mixture, isopentenyl pyrophosphate dimethylallyl pyrophosphate. From this point on, the carbon chain-length of the intermediates progressively increase this is followed by reduction to squalene, which has 30 carbon atoms in a folded chain and no oxygen atoms (Chap. 6). The conversion of isopentenyl pyrophosphate to squalene is shown in Fig. 13-22. 

IPP and DMAPP are interconverted by isopentenyl-di-phosphate D-isomerase (isopentenyl pyrophosphate dimethylallyl pyrophosphate isomerase isopentenyl pyrophosphate A -A -isomerase EC 5.3.3.2). This enzyme has been isolated from a number of plant sources, such as pumpkin, orange peel, and pine seedlings. Isopenenyl-diphosphate d-isomerase (from the fungus Claviceps) has a molecular weight of 35,000, a requirement for Mg, and an pH optimum of 6.0-8.5, and it is inhibited by geranyl and famesyl diphosphate. 

Cell-free extracts and acetone powder preparations from Agave amerkana have been shown to phosphorylate mevalonic acid to give phosphomevalonic acid and thence pyrophosphomevalonic acid at an optimum pH of 7.0. Glutathione and mercaptoethanol enhance the activity of these preparations. Tracer studies with tissue cultures derived from Tanacetum vulgare have revealed the formation of phosphomevalonic acid, pyrophosphomevalonic acid, isopentenyl pyrophosphate, dimethylallyl pyrophosphate, and the incorporation of mevalonic acid into monoterpenes. However, the mono-terpene components of the tissue culture differed from those of the whole plant, sabinene being formed rather than isothujone. 

Isopentenyl pyrophosphate undergoes an enzyme catalyzed reaction that converts It m an equilibrium process to 3 methyl 2 butenyl pyrophosphate (dimethylallyl pyrophosphate)... 

Isopentenyl pyrophosphate and dimethylallyl pyrophosphate are structurally sim liar—both contain a double bond and a pyrophosphate ester unit—but the chemical reactivity expressed by each is different The principal site of reaction m dimethylallyl pyrophosphate is the carbon that bears the pyrophosphate group Pyrophosphate is a reasonably good leaving group m nucleophilic substitution reactions especially when as in dimethylallyl pyrophosphate it is located at an allylic carbon Isopentenyl pyrophosphate on the other hand does not have its leaving group attached to an allylic carbon and is far less reactive than dimethylallyl pyrophosphate toward nucleophilic reagents The principal site of reaction m isopentenyl pyrophosphate is the carbon-carbon double bond which like the double bonds of simple alkenes is reactive toward electrophiles... 

The chemical properties of isopentenyl pyrophosphate and dimethylallyl pyrophosphate are complementary m a way that permits them to react with each other to form a carbon-carbon bond that unites two isoprene units Using the tt electrons of its double... 

Geranyl pyrophosphate is an allylic pyrophosphate and like dimethylallyl pyrophosphate can act as an alkylating agent toward a molecule of isopentenyl pyrophosphate A 15 carbon carbocation is formed which on deprotonation gives/ar nesyl pyrophosphate... 

ARIGONI, D., EISENREICH, W, LATZEL, C., SAGNER, S., RADYKEWICZ, T, ZENK, M.H., BACHER, A., Dimethylallyl pyrophosphate is not the committed precursor of isopentenyl pyrophosphate during terpenoid biosynthesis from 1-deoxyxylulose in higher plants, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 1999, 96,1309-1314. 

More than half of the reported secondary metabolites from macroalgae are isoprenoids. Terpenes, steroids, carotenoids, prenylated quinines, and hydroqui-nones make up the isoprenoid class, which is understood to derive from either the classical mevalonate pathway, or the mevalonate-independent pathway (Stratmann et al. 1992). Melavonic acid (MVA) (Fig. 1.2) is the first committed metabolite of the terpene pathway. Dimethylallyl (dl meth al lal) pyrophosphate (DMAPP) (Fig. 1.3) and its isomer isopentenyl pyrophosphate (IPP, Fig. 1.3) are intermediates of the MVA pathway and exist in nearly all life forms (Humphrey and Beale 2006). Geranyl (ja ran al) (C10) and famesyl (C15) units are generated by head-to-tail (Fig. 1.3) condensation of two (for C10) or three (for C15) 5-carbon DMA-like isoprene units, identifiable in final products by the characteristic fish-tail repeating units, as traced over the structure of a sesquiterpene in Fig. 1.3 (Humphrey and Beale 2006). Additional IPP condensation with famesyl pyrophosphate (FPP)... 

This enzyme [EC 5.3.3.2] catalyzes the interconversion of isopentenyl pyrophosphate and dimethylallyl pyrophosphate. 

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... 

Stage (J) Condensation of Six Activated Isoprene Units to Form Squalene Isopentenyl pyrophosphate and dimethylallyl pyrophosphate now undergo a head-to-tail condensation, in which one pyrophosphate group is displaced and a 10-carbon chain, geranyl pyrophosphate, is formed (Fig. 21-36). (The head is the end to which pyrophosphate is joined.) Geranyl pyrophosphate undergoes another head-to-tail condensation with isopentenyl pyro-... 

Cholesterol is formed from acetyl-CoA in a complex series of reactions, through the intermediates /3-hydroxy-/3-methylglutaryl-CoA, mevalonate, and two activated isoprenes, dimethylallyl pyrophosphate and isopentenyl pyrophosphate. Condensation of isoprene units produces the noncyclic squalene, which is cyclized to yield the steroid ring system and side chain. 

The steroid hormones (glucocorticoids, mineralocorticoids, and sex hormones) are produced from cholesterol by alteration of the side chain and introduction of oxygen atoms into the steroid ring system. In addition to cholesterol, a wide variety of isoprenoid compounds are derived from mevalonate through condensations of isopentenyl pyrophosphate and dimethylallyl pyrophosphate. 

The principal steps in the mechanism of polyisoprene formation in plants are known and should help to improve the natural production of hydrocarbons. Mevalonic acid, a key intermediate derived from plant carbohydrate via acetylcoenzyme A, is transformed into isopentenyl pyrophosphate (IPP) via phosphorylation, dehydration, and decarboxylation (see Alkaloids). IPP then rearranges to dimethylallyl pyrophosphate (DMAPP). DMAPP and... 

Example condensation of dimethylallyl pyrophosphate with isopentenyl pyrophosphate)... 

The conversion of mevalonate to isopentenyl pyrophosphate and dimethylallyl pyrophosphate. Mevalonate is converted to isopentenyl pyrophosphate in three steps. Each of these steps requires one ATP... 

A quantum chemical investigation of the biosynthesis of farnesyl pyrophosphate through the condensation of isopentenyl pyrophosphate and dimethylallyl pyrophosphate suggests that the mechanism is concerted, although the transition state has carbocationic character.164 Quantum chemical calculations were performed on the cyclization of the farnesyl cation to the sesquiterpene pentalenene.165 Two distinct pathways with similar activation barriers were identified, each differing from previous proposed mechanisms, and each involving unusual carbocationic intermediates. Mechanisms previously proposed for enzyme-catalysed formation of the sesquiterpene trichodiene involve carbocation intermediates with a 1,4-hydride transfer as the key step, e.g. (89) -> (90) - (91).166 Quantum chemical calculations, however, show a... 

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