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Protonation‐Initiated Cyclization by a Class II Terpene Cyclase Assisted by Tunneling
Author(s) -
Eriksson Adam,
Kürten Charlotte,
Syrén PerOlof
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
chembiochem
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.05
H-Index - 126
eISSN - 1439-7633
pISSN - 1439-4227
DOI - 10.1002/cbic.201700443
Subject(s) - terpene , chemistry , kinetic isotope effect , carbocation , protonation , electrophile , stereospecificity , stereochemistry , bicyclic molecule , deuterium , cyclase , organic chemistry , enzyme , catalysis , ion , physics , quantum mechanics
Terpenes represent one of the most diversified classes of natural products with potent biological activities. The key to the myriad of polycyclic terpene skeletons with crucial functions in organisms from all kingdoms of life are terpene cyclase enzymes. These biocatalysts enable stereospecific cyclization of relatively simple, linear, prefolded polyisoprenes by highly complex, partially concerted, electrophilic cyclization cascades that remain incompletely understood. Herein, additional mechanistic light is shed on terpene biosynthesis by kinetic studies in mixed H 2 O/D 2 O buffers of a class II bacterial ent ‐copalyl diphosphate synthase. Mass spectrometry determination of the extent of deuterium incorporation in the bicyclic product, reminiscent of initial carbocation formation by protonation, resulted in a large kinetic isotope effect of up to seven. Kinetic analysis at different temperatures confirmed that the isotope effect was independent of temperature, which is consistent with hydrogen tunneling.