L-Phenylalanine, hydroxylation

Recently it was discovered that cofactor activity with phenylalanine hydroxylase is not limited to tetrahydropterin derivatives. Thus, the substituted pyrimidines 2,4,5-triamino-6-hydroxypyrimidine (21) and 5-(benzylamino)-2,4-diamino-6-hydroxypyrimidine (22) are active in the L-phenylalanine hydroxylating system (78BBR(85)1614, 79JBC(254)5150, 80JBC(255)7774). The amine substituent at C-5 of (21) and (22) is apparently required for... 

Conversion of N-benzoyl-L-phenylalanine into L-phenylalanine Hydroxylation... 

In Pseudomonas putida, L-phenylalanine is hydroxylated to tyrosine by a reaction that involves 6,7-dimethyltetrahydrobiopterin, which is converted into 4a-carbinolamine (Song et al. 1999). Tyrosine is then transformed to 2,5-dihydroxyphenylacetate followed by ring fission (Arias-Barrau et al. 2004). 

Tyrosine hydroxylase is the rate-limiting enzyme for the biosynthesis of catecholamines. Tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) is found in all cells that synthesize catecholamines and is a mixed-function oxidase that uses molecular oxygen and tyrosine as its substrates and biopterin as its cofactor [1], TH is a homotetramer, each subunit of which has a molecular weight of approximately 60,000. It catalyzes the addition of a hydroxyl group to the meta position of tyrosine, thus forming 3,4-dihydroxy-L-phenylalanine (l-DOPA). 

Peroxidases have also been utilized for preparative-scale oxidations of aromatic hydrocarbons. Procedures have been optimized for hydroxylation of l-tyrosine, D-(-)-p-hydroxyphenylglycine, and L-phenylalanine by oxygen, di-hydroxyfumaric acid, and horseradish peroxidase (89). Lactoperoxidase from bovine milk and yeast cytochrome c peroxidase will also catalyze such hydroxylation reactions (89). 

An intramolecular hydrogen migration observed in the hydroxylation of aromatic rings in certain enzyme-catalyzed reactions as well as some chemical reactions. The rearrangement was first observed at the National Institutes of Health (hence the name NIH ) in studies of the synthesis of L-tyrosine from L-phenylalanine via phenylalanine hydroxylase. Observation of this shift requires appropriate deuteration of the aromatic reactant. 

Whilst the term biogenic amine strictly encompasses all amines of biological origin, for the purpose of this article it will be employed to refer to the catecholamine (dopamine, noradrenaline) and serotonin group of neurotransmitters. These neurotransmitters are generated from the amino acid precursors tyrosine and tryptophan, respectively, via the action of the tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4)-dependent tyrosine and tryptophan hydroxylases. Hydroxylation of the amino acid substrates leads to formation of 3,4-dihydroxy-l-phenylalanine ( -dopa) and 5-hydroxytryptophan, which are then decarboxylated via the pyridoxalphosphate-dependent aromatic amino acid decarboxylase (AADC) to yield dopamine and serotonin [4]. In noradrenergic neurones, dopamine is further metabolised to noradrenaline through the action of dopamine-jS-hydroxylase [1]. 

One of the best characterized physiological functions of (6R)-tetrahydrobio-pterin (BH4, 43) is the action as a cofactor for aromatic amino acid hydroxylases (Scheme 28). There are three types of aromatic amino acid hydroxylases phenylalanine hydroxylase [PAH phenylalanine monooxygenase (EC 1.14.16.1)], tyrosine hydroxylase [TH tyrosine monooxygenase (EC 1.14.16.2)] and tryptophan hydroxylase [TPH tryptophan monooxygenase (EC 1.14.16.4)]. PAH converts L-phenylalanine (125) to L-tyrosine (126), a reaction important for the catabolism of excess phenylalanine taken from the diet. TH and TPH catalyze the first step in the biosyntheses of catecholamines and serotonin, respectively. Catecholamines, i.e., dopamine, noradrenaline and adrenaline, and serotonin, are important neurotransmitters and hormones. TH hydroxylates L-tyrosine (126) to form l-DOPA (3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine, 127), and TPH catalyzes the hydroxylation of L-tryptophan (128) to 5-hydroxytryptophan (129). The hydroxylated products, 127 and 129, are decarboxylated by the action of aromatic amino acid decarboxylase to dopamine (130) and serotonin (131), respectively. 

The first step in the liver pathway is catalyzed by phenylalanine hydroxylase. Tetrahydrobiopterin is a cofactor. This redox cofactor is also required for the hydroxylation of tyrosine to form L-dopa (Chapter 16) and for the hydroxylation of tryptophan to form 5-hydroxy tryptophan. The structure of tetrahydrobiopterin is given in Figure 20.23. In the process of phenylalanine hydroxylation, the tetrahydrobiopterin is oxidized to dihydrobiopterin. The reduced form is then recovered via NADH and dihydrobiopterin reductase, as shown in Figure 20.23. Dihydrobiopterin, although similar in structure to folic acid, is synthesized in the human organism from GTP. 

The following were administered separately to P. cyclopium [carboxyl- and [ N]-anthranilic acid, phenylalanine with labels at positions 1,2, and 3, and also N-labelled phenylalanine and [methyl- C]methiomne. The results show an intact incorporation of all the atoms of phenylalanine and anthranilic acid into both (49) and (50), with L-phenylalanine preferred over the D-isomer. The iV-methyl group originates from the S-methyl group of methionine. The cyclic dipeptide formed from these two amino-acids is presumably an intermediate on the pathway to the alkaloids. As phenylalanine serves as a precursor for cyclopenol, the origin of the hydroxy-group is by meta-hydroxylation of phenylalanine. Further, m-tyrosine and tyrosine are only unspecific precursors. 

In the same way, Oishi et al. [256] used IEM to functionalize oligomers carrying an acid function obtained by polymerization of chiral acrylamides. Chiral polyacrylamide macromonomers were synthesized from 2-methacryloyloxyethyl isocyanate and prepolymers, i.e., poly[(S)-methyl-benzyl acrylamide] or poly(L-phenylalanine ethylester acrylamide) with a terminal carboxylic acid or hydroxyl group. Radical homopolymerizations of polyacrylamide macromonomers were carried out under different conditions to obtain the corresponding optically active polymers, as shown in Scheme 52. 

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