Oxidative coupling enzyme catalysis

Pal et al. (1994) compared the catalysis of oxidative coupling reactions of various phenolic compounds by the enzymes, laccase and tyrosinase, and mineral catalyst, birnessite. Birnessite acts as a heterogeneous catalyst whereas laccase and tyrosinase function as homogeneous catalysts. Laccase and tyrosinase continue to oxidize catechol after repeated additions of the chemical, while birnessite lost its oxidizing activity after the first addition of catechol (Figure 2.20). In the case of birnessite,... 

Oxidative coupling polymerization provides great utility for the synthesis of high-performance polymers. Oxidative polymerization is also observed in vivo as important biosynthetic processes that, when catalyzed by metalloenzymes, proceed smoothly under an air atmosphere at room temperature. For example, lignin, which composes 30% of wood tissue, is produced by the oxidative polymerization of coniferyl alcohol catalyzed by laccase, an enzyme containing a copper complex as a reactive center. Tyrosine is an a-amino acid and is oxidatively polymerized by tyrosinase (Cu enzyme) to melanin, the black pigment in animals. These reactions proceed efficiently at room temperature in the presence of 02 by means of catalysis by metalloenzymes. Oxidative polymerization is observed in vivo as an important biosynthetic process that proceeds efficiently by oxidases. 

Electrochemical enzyme catalysis can often be identified by cyclic voltammetry. Mb, Hb and cyt P450 enzymes in various films catalyze the reductive dehalogenation of organohalides [11,17,33,34,48,62,63,72,84]. Figure 21 shows CVs of films of Mb and dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine (DMPC). In the absence of reactant trichloroacetic acid (TCA), the voltammogram features reversible reduction-oxidation peaks for the Fe /Fe couple of Mb. In a solution 2 mM in... 

Another important example of catalytic oxidation of inorganic compounds by peroxidases is the catalysis of iodide oxidation by TPO. TPO is involved in the biosynthesis of thyroid hormone and catalyzes the reactions of iodination and coupling in the thyroid gland. Magnusson et al. [215] considered two possible pathways of iodination the formation of enzyme-bound hypoiodite and the formation of free hypoiodide (Reactions (17) and (18)) ... 

So-called blue multinuclear copper oxidase enzymes, such as laccase and ascorbate oxidase, catalyze the stepwise oxidation of organic substrates (most likely in successive one-electron steps) in tandem with the four-electron reduction of O2 to water, i.e. no oxygen atom(s) from O2 are incorporated into the substrate (Eq. 4) [15]. Catechol oxidase, containing a type 3 center, mediates a two-electron substrate oxidation (o-diphenols to o-chinones), and turnover of two substrate molecules is coupled to the reduction of O2 to water [34,35]. The non-blue copper oxidases, e.g. galactose oxidase and amine oxidases [27,56-59], perform similar oxidation catalysis at a mononuclear type 2 Cu site, but H2O2 is produced from O2 instead of H2O, in a two-electron reduction. 

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