Herein, we disclose the structural basis for substrate binding in TropB, which performs a synthetically challenging asymmetric oxidative dearomatization reaction with exquisite site- and stereoselectivity across a range of substrates, providing a foundation for future protein engineering and reaction development efforts. Our hypothesis for substrate binding is informed by the first crystal structure of TropB and molecular dynamics simulations with the corresponding computational TropB model and is supported by experimental data.

Herein, we disclose the structural basis for substrate binding in TropB, which performs a synthetically challenging asymmetric oxidative dearomatization reaction with exquisite site- and stereoselectivity across a range of substrates, providing a foundation for future protein engineering and reaction development efforts. Our hypothesis for substrate binding is informed by the first crystal structure of TropB and molecular dynamics simulations with the corresponding computational TropB model and is supported by experimental data.