An Optimized System for the Study of Rieske Oxygenase-catalyzed Hydroxylation Reactions In vitro

Rieske non-heme iron oxygenases (ROs) are primarily known for their ability to catalyze the stereoselective formation of vicinal cis-diols in a single step, endowing valuable products for pharmaceutical and chemical applications. In addition, ROs can catalyze several other oxidation reactions with high regio- and stereoselectivity and typically broad substrate scope. Owing to their dependence on multicomponent electron transfer, the majority of synthetic applications of ROs relies on recombinant whole-cell catalysts. In this context, important properties of the multicomponent system that determine the catalytic efficiency, including electron transfer via redox partner proteins, stability and uncoupling, have been investigated to a lesser extent in recent years. Here, we show for one of the most prominent ROs, the cumene dioxygenase from Pseudomonas fluorescens IP01 (CDO) that by developing and optimizing an efficient in vitro system, high catalytic activities can be achieved. In addition, we highlight that an efficient and continuous supplementation of electrons to the oxygenase is required to sustain their catalytic activity, while uncoupling can be a major limitation in CDO efficiency and stability.