Breaking the Myth of Enzymatic Azoreduction

Flavin-dependent azoreductases have been applied to a wide range of tasks from decolorizing numerous azo dyes to releasing azo-conjugated prodrugs. A general narrative reiterated in much of the literature suggests that this enzyme promotes sequential reduction of both the azo-containing substrate and its corresponding hydrazo product to release the aryl amine components while consuming two equivalents of NAD(P)H. Indeed, such aryl amines can be formed by incubation of certain azo compounds with azoreductases, but the nature of the substrates capable of this apparent azo bond lysis remained unknown. We have now prepared a set of azobenzene derivatives and characterized their turnover and products after treatment with azoreductase from Escherichia coli to discover the structural basis regulating aryl amine formation. Without resonance donation by aryl substituents, reduction ceases at the hydrazo product. This indicates that azoreductases do not act on the hydrazo bond. Instead, aryl amine formation depends on a spontaneous hydrazo bond lysis that is promoted by resonance stabilization and subsequent reduction of the quinone-like intermediate by azoreductase. Experimental and computational approaches confirm the substituent dependence of this process. With knowledge of this requirement, full release of aryl amines from azo-conjugates can now be designed and applied with confidence.