Biocatalytic alkylations are important reactions to obtain chemo-, regio-and stereoselectively alkylated compounds. This can be achieved using S-adenosyl-l-methionine (SAM)-dependent methyltransferases and SAM analogs. It was recently shown that a halide methyltransferase (HMT) from Chloracidobacterium thermophilum can synthesize SAM from SAH and methyl iodide. We developed an iodide-based assay for the directed evolution of an HMT from Arabidopsis thaliana and used it to identify a V140T variant that can also accept ethyl-, propyl-, and allyl iodide to produce the corresponding SAM analogs (90, 50, and 70 % conversion of 15 mg SAH). The V140T AtHMT was used in one-pot cascades with O-methyltransferases (IeOMT or COMT) to achieve the regioselective ethylation of luteolin and allylation of 3,4dihydroxybenzaldehyde. While a cascade for the propylation of 3,4-dihydroxybenzaldehyde gave low conversion, the propyl-SAH intermediate could be confirmed by NMR spectroscopy.

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Lipases show high stability in lipophilic solvents and catalyze reactions at the water‐oil interfaces, which are of great industrial interest. One promising application of lipases is the production of epoxides from alkenes and hydrogen peroxide. So far, little attention has been given to uncover the reaction mechanism for this in detail at the molecular level. Here, we present structural and mutational analysis of a lipase from Penicillium camembertii that indicates a two‐stage synergistic mechanism for this reaction. Surprisingly, a mutant devoid of the catalytic serine retains a fraction of activity while histidine from the catalytic triad is absolutely critical to maintain the enzyme activity. Histidine appears to perform a dual‐activation role acting both towards hydrogen peroxide and the catalytic serine. These results thus allow a better understanding of enzymatic epoxidation and engineering of more potent, stable and selective enzymes.

catalysts shown in Figure S18, Supporting Information, indicate that Te clusters remain stable during the electrocatalytic ORR reaction. These results demonstrate that FeN 4 -Te n may be competitive in various related electrochemical devices.

Halide methyltransferases (HMTs) enable the enzymatic synthesis of S‐adenosyl‐l‐methionine (SAM) from S‐adenosyl‐l‐homocysteine (SAH) and methyl iodide. Characterisation of a range of naturally occurring HMTs and subsequent protein engineering led to HMT variants capable of synthesising ethyl, propyl, and allyl analogues of SAM. Notably, HMTs do not depend on chemical synthesis of methionine analogues, as required by methionine adenosyltransferases (MATs). However, at the moment MATs have a much broader substrate scope than the HMTs. Herein we provide an overview of the discovery and engineering of promiscuous HMTs and how these strategies will pave the way towards a toolbox of HMT variants for versatile chemo‐ and regioselective biocatalytic alkylations.

An isoeugenol 4‐O‐methyltransferase (IeOMT), isolated from the plant Clarkia breweri, can be engineered to a caffeic acid 3‐O‐methyltransferase (CaOMT) by replacing three consecutive residues. Here we further investigated functions of these residues by constructing the triple mutant T133M/A134N/T135Q as well as single mutants of each residue. Phenolics with different chain lengths and different functional groups were investigated. The variant T133M improves the enzymatic activities against all tested substrates by providing beneficial interactions to residues which directly interact with the substrate. Mutant A134N significantly enhanced the regioselectivity. It is meta‐selective or even specific against most of the tested substrates but para‐specific towards 3,4‐dihydroxybenzoic acid. The triple mutant T133M/A134N/T135Q benefits from these two mutations, which not only expand the substrate scope but also enhance the regioselectivity of IeOMT. On the basis of our work, regiospecific methylated phenolics can be produced in high purity by different IeOMT variants.

Highly efficient interfacial enzymatic hydrolysis of oil was achieved in a three-liquid-phase system, wherein the substrate constituted one of the phases. The enlarged interfacial area and relieved product inhibition were responsible for the high catalytic efficiency. Convenient product isolation and the high reusability of the enzyme were also demonstrated.

Methylation of free hydroxyl groups is an important modification for flavonoids. It not only greatly increases absorption and oral bioavailability of flavonoids, but also brings new biological activities. Flavonoid methylation is usually achieved by a specific group of plant O‐methyltransferases (OMTs) which typically exhibit high substrate specificity. Here we investigated the effect of several residues in the binding pocket of the Clarkia breweri isoeugenol OMT on the substrate scope and regioselectivity against flavonoids. The mutation T133M, identified as reported in our previous publication, increased the activity of the enzyme against several flavonoids, namely eriodictyol, naringenin, luteolin, quercetin and even the isoflavonoid genistein, while a reduced set of amino acids at positions 322 and 326 affected both, the activity and the regioselectivity of the methyltranferase. On the basis of this work, methylated flavonoids that are rare in nature were produced in high purity.