Enantio- and Diastereoenriched Enzymatic Synthesis of 1,2,3-Polysubstituted Cyclopropanes from (Z/E)-Trisubstituted...

In nature and synthetic chemistry, stereoselective [2+1] cyclopropanation is the most prevalent strategy for the synthesis of chiral cyclopropanes, a class of key pharmacophores in pharmaceuticals and bioactive natural products. One of the most extensively studied reactions in the organic chemist's arsenal, stereoselective [2+1] cyclopropanation, largely relies on the use of stereodefined olefins, which require elaborate laboratory synthesis or tedious separation to ensure high stereoselectivity. Here we report engineered hemoproteins derived from a bacterial cytochrome P450 that catalyze the synthesis of chiral 1,2,3-polysubstituted cyclopropanes, regardless of the stereopurity of the olefin substrates used. Cytochrome P450 _BM3 variant IC-G3 exclusively converts ( Z )-enol acetates to enantio- and diastereoenriched cyclopropanes and in our model reaction delivers a leftover ( E )-enol acetate with 98% stereopurity, using whole Escherichia coli cells. IC-G3 was further engineered with a single mutation to enable the biotransformation of ( E )-enol acetates to α -branched ketones with high levels of enantioselectivity while simultaneously catalyzing the cyclopropanation of ( Z )-enol acetates with excellent activities and selectivities. We conducted docking studies and molecular dynamics simulations to understand how active-site residues distinguish between the substrate isomers and enable the enzyme to perform these distinct transformations with such high selectivities. Computational studies suggest the observed enantio- and diastereoselectivities are achieved through a stepwise pathway. These biotransformations streamline the synthesis of chiral 1,2,3-polysubstituted cyclopropanes from readily available mixtures of ( Z/E )-olefins, adding a new dimension to classical cyclopropanation methods.