Patrizia Gentili

Comparing the catalytic efficiency of some mediators of laccase

The mechanism of oxidation of non-phenolic substrates by laccase/mediators systems has been investigated. Oxidation of 4-methoxybenzyl alcohol (1), taken as a benchmark reaction, enabled us to compare and to rank the relative ability of twelve mediators: TEMPO proved most effective, and a ionic mechanism is suggested for its action. Data on intermolecular selectivity of substrate oxidation are in favour of an electron transfer (ET) mechanism in the case of ABTS-mediated oxidations, and of a radical mechanism in HBT- and HPI-mediated reactions. Investigation by cyclic voltammetry (CV) of some of the mediators revealed that an important role in determining the mechanism of substrate oxidation may be played by the stability of the oxidised form of the mediator, as well as by its redox potential.

Promoting laccase activity towards non-phenolic substrates: a mechanistic investigation with some laccase–mediator systems

The oxidation of benzyl alcohols with the enzyme laccase, under mediation by appropriate mediator compounds, yields carbonylic products, whereas laccase can not oxidise these non-phenolic substrates directly. The oxidation step is performed by the oxidised form of the mediator (Med(ox)), generated on its interaction with laccase. The Med(ox) can follow either an electron transfer (ET) or a radical hydrogen atom transfer (HAT) route of oxidation of the substrates. Experimental evidence is reported that enables unambiguous assessment of the occurrence of either one the oxidation routes with each of the investigated mediators, namely, ABTS, HBT, HPI and VLA. Support to the conclusions is provided by (i) investigating the intermolecular selectivity of oxidation with appropriate substrates, (ii) attempting Hammett correlations for the oxidation of a series of 4-X-substituted benzyl alcohols, (iii) measuring the kinetic isotope effect, (iv) investigating the product pattern with suitable probe precursors. Based on these points, a HAT mechanism results to be followed by the laccase-HBT, laccase-HPI and laccase-VLA systems, whereas an ET route appears feasible in the case of the laccase-ABTS system.

An oxidation of alcohols by oxygen with the enzyme laccase and mediation by TEMPO

Abstract A simple and efficient oxidation of alcohols to carbonyl compounds by oxygen at room temperature is described; it requires the laccase/TEMPO mediator system as the catalyst. A possible mechanistic explanation is provided.

New mediators for the enzyme laccase: mechanistic features and selectivity in the oxidation of non-phenolic substrates

New mediators of laccase have been comparatively evaluated and ranked towards the benchmark aerobic oxidation of p-MeO-benzyl alcohol. The mechanism of oxidation of this non-phenolic substrate by each mediator, which is initially oxidised by laccase to the Medox form, has been assessed among three alternatives. The latter make the phenoloxidise laccase competent for the indirect oxidation of non-phenolic (and thus ‘unnatural’) substrates. Experimental characterisation of the mediators, by means of spectrophotometric, electrochemical and thermochemical survey, is reported. Clear-cut evidence for the formation of a benzyl radical intermediate in the oxidation of a particular benzyl alcohol with laccase and a N–OH mediator is attained by means of a trapping experiment. The selectivity of the laccase-catalysed oxidation of two competing lignin and polysaccharide model compounds has been assessed by using the highly proficient 4-MeO-HPI mediator, and found very high in favour of the former model. This evidence is in keeping with the operation of a radical hydrogen-abstraction process that efficiently cleaves the benzylic rather than the aliphatic C–H bond of the two models. Significant is the finding that catechol, i.e., a model of recurring phenolic structures in lignin, once oxidised to aryloxyl radical by laccase is capable to mediate a radical oxidation of non-phenolic compounds. This supports a fully-fledged role of laccase as a delignifying enzyme in nature by way of no other mediators than the very phenolic groups of lignin. Finally, an evaluation of the dissociation energy of the NO–H bond of HBT, which is not accessible experimentally, is provided by the use of a thermochemical cycle and theoretical calculations.

Mechanistic and steric issues in the oxidation of phenolic and non-phenolic compounds by laccase or laccase-mediator systems. The case of bifunctional substrates

Steric and redox issues of phenolic and non-phenolic substrates are investigated for a better insight of the reactivity features of the phenoloxidase laccase. Whenever a substrate is endowed with a redox potential too high for direct monoelectronic oxidation by the enzyme, or else is too much encumbered to access the enzymatic pocket, redox mediators overcome the problem, behaving as an interface between enzyme and substrate. For example, the small-sized mediator ABTS, once oxidised by laccase, fruitfully interacts with bulky substrates, 2,4,6-tri(But)-phenol providing a significant case. Other mediators, for example HBT, resort to a radical oxidation mechanism precluded to laccase, and can react with non-phenolic substrates which are impossible for the enzyme. The advantages provided by the mediators are discussed, and suitable phenolic compounds, as precursors of phenoxyl radical intermediates, emerge as a new proficient class. They could be the true natural mediators of laccase in the oxidative delignification. In fact, phenoxyl radical fragments generated by laccase from lignin, or from phenolic monomer residuals from the building up of lignin polymer or else deriving from lignin by oxidation with other ligninolytic enzymes, could oxidise non-phenolic residues of lignin thereby causing the breakdown of its alkyl network. The novel mechanistic probe 3,5-di(But)-4-OH-benzyl alcohol enables the decoupling of the reactivity channels of a phenolic vs. a benzylic alcohol moiety in the enzymatic oxidation of bifunctional substrates having structural features comparable to portions of lignin. Experimental support is thereby attained for the central role of laccase in biodelignification, in spite of the seemingly lower oxidation power of this enzyme with respect to other and stronger oxidising enzymes excreted by ligninolytic fungi.

An assessment of the relative contributions of redox and steric issues to laccase specificity towards putative substrates

Laccases catalyze the one-electron oxidation of a broad range of substrates coupled to the 4 electron reduction of O2 to H2O. Phenols are typical substrates, because their redox potentials (ranging from 0.5 to 1.0 V vs. NHE) are low enough to allow electron abstraction by the T1 Cu(II) that, although a relatively modest oxidant (in the 0.4-0.8 V range), is the electron-acceptor in laccases. The present study comparatively investigated the oxidation performances of Trametes villosa and Myceliophthora thermophila laccases, two enzymes markedly differing in redox potential (0.79 and 0.46 V). The oxidation efficiency and kinetic constants of laccase-catalyzed conversion of putative substrates were determined. Hammett plots related to the oxidation of substituted phenols by the two laccases, in combination with the kinetic isotope effect determination, confirmed a rate-determining electron transfer from the substrate to the enzyme. The efficiency of oxidation was found to increase with the decrease in redox potential of the substrates, and the Marcus reorganisation energy for electron transfer to the T1 copper site was determined. Steric hindrance to substrate docking was inferred because some of the phenols and anilines investigated, despite possessing a redox potential compatible with one-electron abstraction, were scarcely oxidised. A threshold value of steric hindrance of the substrate, allowed for fitting into the active site of T. villosa laccase, was extrapolated from structural information provided by X-ray analysis of T. versicolor lac3B, sharing an identity of 99% at the protein level, thus enabling us to assess the relative contribution of steric and redox properties of a substrate in determining its susceptibility to laccase oxidation. The inferred structural threshold is compatible with the distance between two phenylalanine residues that mark the entrance to the active site. Interaction of the substrate with other residues of the active site is commented on.

Hydrogen Abstraction and Electron Transfer with Aminoxyl Radicals : Synthetic and Mechanistic Issues

Aminoxyl radicals (R(2)NO(*)) are a valuable class of reactive intermediates with interesting synthetic and reactivity properties. This Minireview summarizes salient synthetic results obtained in radical oxidations using aminoxyl radicals, and then focuses on reactivity issues arising from recent literature surveys. The structural and reactivity features of the aminoxyl radical and substrate provides a possible explanation of the double reactivity of the aminoxyl radicals. This mechanistic dichotomy between H-atom abstraction and electron-abstraction routes is highlighted in this Minireview.

Free radical versus electron-transfer routes of oxidation of hydrocarbons by laccase/mediator systems: Catalytic or stoichiometric procedures

Abstract The oxidation of CH bonds in alkylarenes can take place by dioxygen, under catalysis by the phenol-oxidase enzyme laccase, provided that suitable mediator compounds are added. The actual oxidation of the substrate is carried out by the oxidised form of the mediator, in a non-enzymatic step. The relative efficiency of four >NOH-type mediators (HBT, HPI, VLA, NHA) has been evaluated, and compared with that of the structurally different mediator ABTS. Laccase/mediator catalysed oxidations of non-phenolic substrates can proceed via two different mechanisms. Either on monoelectronic oxidation, by the oxidised form of mediator ABTS, or, by abstraction of hydrogen atom, by a >NO radical species derived from the >NOH-type mediators. The former mechanism requires substrates with a low oxidation potential; the latter mechanism requires substrates with relatively weak CH bonds. Electrochemical and thermochemical evidence is provided (i) to explain the failure in the oxidation of specific alkylarenes and (ii) in support to the rationalisation of the experimental findings. Particular emphasis is given to discuss the effect of the mediator-to-substrate molar ratio upon the efficiency of the oxidation procedure. In order to explain why, in previous literature studies, better results may have been obtained by using the mediator in more that stoichiometric amounts, we propose the concurrent formation of degradation products from the mediator, which could be responsible for the onset of alternative oxidation pathways. A better understanding of the natural role of laccase in the oxygen-dependent degradation of lignin in wood emerges from this study.

A Mechanistic Survey of the Oxidation of Alcohols and Ethers with the Enzyme Laccase and Its Mediation by TEMPO

The oxidation of alcohols and ethers by O2 with the enzyme laccase, mediated by the stable N-oxyl radical TEMPO, affords carbonylic products. An ionic mechanism is proposed, where a nucleophilic attack of the oxygen lone-pair of the alcohol (or ether) onto the oxoammonium form of TEMPO (generated by laccase on oxidation) takes place leading to a transient adduct. Subsequent deprotonation of this adduct α

The radical rate-determining step in the oxidation of benzyl alcohols by two N–OH-type mediators of laccase: the polar N-oxyl radical intermediate

Determination of the effect of substituents in the aerobic oxidation of X-substituted benzyl alcohols by laccase, with mediation by HPI or HBT, confirms the H-atom abstraction from the benzylic C–H bond as the rate-determining step (HAT route), and supports a polar nature for the N-oxyl radical intermediate originating from the two N–OH mediators.