Bacterial cytochrome P450 for oxidative halogenated biaryl coupling.
Petriti, V., Nolan, K., Xu, W., Tsai, S., Wang, X., Xie, W.J., Zheng, G., Wang, Y., Ding, Y.(2026) ACS Catal 16: 2615-2627
- PubMed: 41789186 
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acscatal.5c08060
- Primary Citation Related Structures: 
9MS3, 9YV5, 9YVV - PubMed Abstract: 
Biaryl motifs are fundamental structural elements in many pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, and advanced materials. Traditional synthetic approaches for biaryl bond formation often require harsh conditions, costly catalysts, and pre-functionalized starting materials, which limit their efficiency, sustainability, and substrate scope. Enzymatic catalysis offers a greener alternative. However, biocatalysts capable of directly coupling halogenated biaryl compounds remain largely underexplored. Here, we report the functional characterization of the marine-derived cytochrome P450 enzyme Bmp7, which catalyzes the formation of halogenated biaryls. We first characterized the product profile of recombinant Bmp7 using its native substrate 2,4-dibromophenol ( 1 ) and confirmed the dominant ortho - ortho C-C homocoupled product as MC21-A. Screening a halogenated aromatic substrate library revealed that Bmp7 binds and catalyzes the coupling of 17 halogenated phenols, as evidenced by spectral shift assays, LC-HRMS, HRMS/MS and GC-MS analyses. Two homocoupled products were structurally confirmed by NMR analysis to possess ortho-ortho C-C linkages. In addition to efficient homocoupling, Bmp7 catalyzed heterocoupling reactions between substrate 1 and 16 other substrates, producing mixtures of homocoupled and heterocoupled halogenated biphenols. X-ray crystallography revealed the binding of two substrate 1 molecules within the active site, while DFT calculations supported a single-radical reaction mechanism, shedding light on the mechanistic basis of the coupling reaction. Together, these findings lay the groundwork for these findings establish a foundation for future efforts in enzyme engineering and the development of biocatalytic strategies for synthetic applications.
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Center for Natural Products, Drug Discovery and Development, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32610 USA.
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