Structural insights into the desymmetrization of bulky 1,2-dicarbonyls through enzymatic monoreduction.
Rabuffetti, M., Cannazza, P., Contente, M.L., Pinto, A., Romano, D., Hoyos, P., Alcantara, A.R., Eberini, I., Laurenzi, T., Gourlay, L., Di Pisa, F., Molinari, F.(2021) Bioorg Chem 108: 104644-104644
- PubMed: 33486371 
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bioorg.2021.104644
- Primary Citation of Related Structures:  
6YC8 - PubMed Abstract: 
Benzil reductases are dehydrogenases preferentially active on aromatic 1,2-diketones, but the reasons for this peculiar substrate recognition have not yet been clarified. The benzil reductase (KRED1-Pglu) from the non-conventional yeast Pichia glucozyma showed excellent activity and stereoselectivity in the monoreduction of space-demanding aromatic 1,2-dicarbonyls, making this enzyme attractive as biocatalyst in organic chemistry. Structural insights into the stereoselective monoreduction of 1,2-diketones catalyzed by KRED1-Pglu were investigated starting from its 1.77 Å resolution crystal structure, followed by QM and classical calculations; this study allowed for the identification and characterization of the KRED1-Pglu reactive site. Once identified the recognition elements involved in the stereoselective desymmetrization of bulky 1,2-dicarbonyls mediated by KRED1-Pglu, a mechanism was proposed together with an in silico prediction of substrates reactivity.
Organizational Affiliation: 
Department of Food, Environmental and Nutritional Sciences (DeFENS), University of Milan, Via Mangiagalli 25, 20133 Milan, Italy.