Search

The flavoenzyme vanillyl-alcohol oxidase was subjected to random mutagenesis to generate mutants with enhanced reactivity to creosol (2-methoxy-4-methylphenol). The vanillyl-alcohol oxidase-mediated conversion of creosol proceeds via a two-step process in which the initially formed vanillyl alcohol (4-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzyl alcohol) is oxidized to the widely used flavor compound vanillin (4-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzaldehyde). The first step of this reaction is extremely slow due to the formation of a covalent FAD N-5-creosol adduct. After a single round of error-prone PCR, seven mutants were generated with increased reactivity to creosol. The single-point mutants I238T, F454Y, E502G, and T505S showed an up to 40-fold increase in catalytic efficiency (k(cat)/K-m) with creosol compared with the wild-type enzyme. This enhanced reactivity was due to a lower stability of the covalent flavin-substrate adduct, thereby promoting vanillin formation. The catalytic efficiencies of the mutants were also enhanced for other ortho-substituted 4-methylphenols, but not for p-cresol (4-methylphenol). The replaced amino acid residues are not located within a distance of direct interaction with the substrate, and the determined three-dimensional structures of the mutant enzymes are highly similar to that of the wild-type enzyme. These results clearly show the importance of remote residues, not readily predicted by rational design, for the substrate specificity of enzymes.

Due to increasing interest in natural vanillin, two enzymatic routes for the synthesis of vanillin were developed. The flavoprotein vanillyl alcohol oxidase (VAO) acts on a wide range of phenolic compounds and converts both creosol and vanillylamine to vanillin with high yield. The VAO-mediated conversion of creosol proceeds via a two-step process in which the initially formed vanillyl alcohol is further oxidized to vanillin. Catalysis is limited by the formation of an abortive complex between enzyme-bound flavin and creosol. Moreover, in the second step of the process, the conversion of vanillyl alcohol is inhibited by the competitive binding of creosol. The VAO-catalyzed conversion Of vanillylamine proceeds efficiently at alkaline pH values. Vanillylamine is initially converted to a vanillylimine intermediate product, which is hydrolyzed nonenzymatically to vanillin. This route to vanillin has biotechnological potential as the widely available principle of red pepper, capsaicin, can be hydrolyzed enzymatically to vanillylamine.

Vanillyl alcohol oxidase (VAO) from Penicillium simplicissimum catalyzes the enantioselective hydroxylation of 4-ethylphenol, 4-propylphenol, and 2-methoxy-4-propylphenol into 1-(4'-hydroxyphenyl)ethanol, 1-(4'-hydroxyphenyl)propanol, and 1-(4'-hydroxy-3'-methoxyphenyl)propanol, respectively, with an ee of 94% for the R enantiomer. The stereochemical outcome of the reactions was established by comparing the chiral GC retention times of the products to those of chiral alcohols obtained by the action of the lipases from Candida antarctica and Pseudomonas cepacia. Isotope labeling experiments revealed that the oxygen atom incorporated into the alcoholic products is derived from water. During the VAO-mediated conversion of 4-ethylphenol/4-propylphenol, 4-vinylphenol/4-propenylphenol are formed as side products. With 2-methoxy-4-propylphenol as a substrate, this competing side reaction is nearly abolished, resulting in less than 1% of the vinylic product, isoeugenol. The VAO-mediated conversion of 4-alkylphenols also results in small amounts of phenolic ketones indicative for a consecutive oxidation step.