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C-H activation

New recipes for biocatalysis

The bacterial halogenase SyrB2 catalyzes selective installation of halogens in place of unactivated aliphatic C-H bonds. By substituting halide reagents with the nitrogenous anions N3 and NO2, SyrB2 can perform C-N bond formation reactions not previously observed in nature.

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Figure 1: Homologous hydroxylase and hydrogenase enzymes share a common high valent Fe(IV)-oxo reactive intermediate capable of aliphatic hydrogen abstraction.

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Correspondence to Eric M Brustad.

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Brustad, E. New recipes for biocatalysis. Nat Chem Biol 10, 170–171 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nchembio.1457

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