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Updated: Jan 2, 2026

Light-driven Enzymatic Decarboxylation
Published on: May 22, 2016
How Chemical Environment Activates Anthralin and Molecular Oxygen for Direct Reaction
Emerald S Ellis1, Luke T MacHale1, Robert K Szilagyi1
1Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry , Montana State University , P.O. Box 173400, Bozeman , Montana 59717 , United States.
Abstract:
The role of the chemical environment in promoting anthralin/O2 reactions was discovered using neat solvents to model the amino acids of a cofactor-independent oxygenase. Experimental and computational results highlight the importance of the substrate-enolate, which is accessed via energetically small, escalating steps in which the ground-state keto-isomer is tautomerized to an enol and then ionized by solvent. The resulting ion-pair is poised for spontaneous electron transfer to O2. Similar activation may be exploited in biological/nonbiological oxidations involving O2.
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