Chemoenzymatic Hunsdiecker-Type Decarboxylative Bromination of Cinnamic Acids

In this contribution, we report chemoenzymatic bromodecarboxylation (Hunsdiecker-type) of α,ß-unsaturated carboxylic acids. The extraordinarily robust chloroperoxidase from Curvularia inaequalis (CiVCPO) generated hypobromite from H2O2 and bromide, which then spontaneously reacted with a broad range of unsaturated carboxylic acids and yielded...

Biocatalytic Aromaticity-Breaking Epoxidation of Naphthalene and Nucleophilic Ring-Opening Reactions

Aromatic hydroxylation reactions catalyzed by heme-thiolate enzymes proceed via an epoxide intermediate. These aromatic epoxides could be valuable building blocks for organic synthesis giving access to a range of chiral trans-disubstituted cyclohexadiene synthons. Here, we show that naphthalene epoxides generated by fungal peroxygenases can...

Formate Oxidase (FOx) from Aspergillus oryzae: One Catalyst Enables Diverse H ₂ O ₂ -Dependent Biocatalytic Oxidation Reactions

An increasing number of biocatalytic oxidation reactions rely on H ₂ O ₂ as a clean oxidant. The poor robustness of most enzymes towards H ₂ O ₂ , however, necessitates more efficient systems for in situ H ₂ O ₂ generation. In analogy to the well-known formate dehydrogenase to...

Biocatalytic Oxidation Reactions: A Chemist's Perspective

Oxidation chemistry using enzymes is approaching maturity and practical applicability in organic synthesis. Oxidoreductases (enzymes catalysing redox reactions) enable chemists to perform highly selective and efficient transformations ranging from simple alcohol oxidations to stereoselective halogenations of non‐activated C−H bonds. For many of...