Untitled

Funder

Organizational Unit

Publications

Laccases: versatile biocatalysts for the synthesis of heterocyclic cores

Publication . Sousa, Ana Catarina; Martins, Lígia O.; Robalo, M. Paula

Laccases are multicopper oxidases that have shown a great potential in various biotechnological and green chemistry processes mainly due to their high relative non-specific oxidation of phenols, arylamines and some inorganic metals, and their high redox potentials that can span from 500 to 800 mV vs. SHE. Other advantages of laccases include the use of readily available oxygen as a second substrate, the formation of water as a side-product and no requirement for cofactors. Importantly, addition of low-molecular-weight redox mediators that act as electron shuttles, promoting the oxidation of complex bulky substrates and/or of higher redox potential than the enzymes themselves, can further expand their substrate scope, in the so-called laccase-mediated systems (LMS). Laccase bioprocesses can be designed for efficiency at both acidic and basic conditions since it is known that fungal and bacterial laccases exhibit distinct optimal pH values for the similar phenolic and aromatic amines. This review covers studies on the synthesis of five- and six-membered ring heterocyclic cores, such as benzimidazoles, benzofurans, benzothiazoles, quinazoline and quinazolinone, phenazine, phenoxazine, phenoxazinone and phenothiazine derivatives. The enzymes used and the reaction protocols are briefly outlined, and the mechanistic pathways described.

2021-06-18Journal article

Open access

Synthesis of Substituted 4-Arylamine-1,2-naphthoquinones in One-Pot Reactions Using CotA-Laccase as Biocatalyst

Publication . Sousa, Ana Catarina; Santos, Iolanda; Piedade, M. Fatima M.; Martins, Lígia O.; Robalo, M. Paula

An efficient and environmentally benign biocatalytic strategy for the synthesis of substituted 4-arylamino-1,2-naphthoquinones was developed, through a cross-coupling reaction in which the 1,2-naphthoquinone nucleus, formed in the biocatalytic process mediated by CotA-laccase from Bacillus subtilis, is the key synthetic intermediate. Electrochemical data and kinetic parameters were determined revealing a significant higher specificity of CotA-laccase for 4-amino-3-hydroxynaphthalene-1-sulfonic acid (AHNSA). This ability of CotA-laccase to discriminate between oxidisable aromatic amines allows the set-up of one-pot reactions in the presence of the enzyme, between AHNSA and a set of appropriate aromatic amines under mild reaction conditions.

2020-08-19Journal article

Open access