Discovery and Engineering of a Novel Baeyer-Villiger Monooxygenase with High Normal Regioselectivity.

Baeyer-Villiger monooxygenases (BVMOs) are remarkable biocatalysts for the Baeyer-Villiger oxidation of ketones to generate esters or lactones. The regioselectivity of BVMOs is essential for determining the ratio of the two regioisomeric products ("normal" and "abnormal") when catalyzing asymmetric ketone substrates. Starting from a known normal-preferring BVMO sequence from Pseudomonas putida KT2440 (PpBVMO), a novel BVMO from Gordonia sihwensis (GsBVMO) with higher normal regioselectivity (up to 97/3) was identified. Furthermore, protein engineering increased the specificity constant (kcat /KM ) 8.9-fold to 484 s-1 mM-1 for 10-ketostearic acid derived from oleic acid. Consequently, by using the variant GsBVMOC308L as an efficient biocatalyst, 10-ketostearic acid was efficiently transformed into 9-(nonanoyloxy)nonanoic acid, with a space-time yield of 60.5 g L-1 d-1 . This study showed that the mutant with higher regioselectivity and catalytic efficiency could be applied to prepare medium-chain ω-hydroxy fatty acids through biotransformation of long-chain aliphatic keto acids derived from renewable plant oils.

Efficient Synthesis of Methyl 3-Acetoxypropionate by a Newly Identified Baeyer-Villiger Monooxygenase.

Baeyer-Villiger monooxygenases (BVMOs) are an emerging class of promising biocatalysts for the oxidation of ketones to prepare corresponding esters or lactones. Although many BVMOs have been reported, the development of highly efficient enzymes for use in industrial applications is desirable. In this work, we identified a BVMO from Rhodococcus pyridinivorans (BVMORp) with a high affinity toward aliphatic methyl ketones (Km < 3.0 µM). The enzyme was highly soluble and relatively stable, with a half-life of 23 h at 30°C and pH 7.5. The most effective substrate discovered so far is 2-hexanone (kcat = 2.1 s-1; Km = 1.5 µM). Furthermore, BVMORp exhibited excellent regioselectivity toward most aliphatic ketones, preferentially forming typical (i.e., normal) products. Using the newly identified BVMORp as the catalyst, a high concentration (26.0 g/liter; 200 mM) of methyl levulinate was completely converted to methyl 3-acetoxypropionate after 4 h, with a space-time yield of 5.4 g liter-1 h-1 Thus, BVMORp is a promising biocatalyst for the synthesis of 3-hydroxypropionate from readily available biobased levulinate to replace the conventional fermentation.IMPORTANCE BVMOs are emerging as a green alternative to traditional oxidants in the BV oxidation of ketones. Although many BVMOs are discovered and used in organic synthesis, few are really applied in industry, especially in the case of aliphatic ketones. Herein, a highly soluble and relatively stable monooxygenase from Rhodococcus pyridinivorans (BVMORp) was identified with high activity and excellent regioselectivity toward most aliphatic ketones. BVMORp possesses unusually high substrate loading during the catalysis of the oxidation of biobased methyl levulinate to 3-hydroxypropionic acid derivatives. This study indicates that the synthesis of 3-hydroxypropionate from readily available biobased levulinate by BVMORp-catalyzed oxidation holds great promise to replace traditional fermentation.

Direct Access to Medium-Chain α,ω-Dicarboxylic Acids by Using a Baeyer-Villiger Monooxygenase of Abnormal Regioselectivity.

Baeyer-Villiger monooxygenases (BVMOs) are versatile biocatalysts in organic synthesis that can generate esters or lactones by inserting a single oxygen atom adjacent to a carbonyl moiety. The regioselectivity of BVMOs is essential in determining the ratio of two regioisomers for converting asymmetric ketones. Herein, we report a novel BVMO from Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PaBVMO); this has been exploited for the direct synthesis of medium-chain α,ω-dicarboxylic acids through a Baeyer-Villiger oxidation-hydrolysis cascade. PaBVMO displayed the highest abnormal regioselectivity toward a variety of long-chain aliphatic keto acids (C16 -C20 ) to date, affording dicarboxylic monoesters with a ratio of up to 95 %. Upon chemical hydrolysis, α,ω-dicarboxylic acids and fatty alcohols are readily obtained without further treatment; this significantly reduces the synthetic steps of α,ω-dicarboxylic acids from renewable oils and fats.