Light-driven Enzymatic Decarboxylation

Oxidoreductases belong to the most-applied industrial enzymes. Nevertheless, they need external electrons whose supply is often costly and challenging. Recycling of the electron donors NADH or NADPH requires the use of additional enzymes and sacrificial substrates. Interestingly, several oxidoreductases accept hydrogen peroxide as electron donor. While being inexpensive, this reagent often reduces the stability of enzymes. A solution to this problem is the in situ generation of the cofactor. The continuous supply of the cofactor at low concentration drives the reaction without impairing enzyme stability. This paper demonstrates a method for the light-catalyzed in situ generation of hydrogen peroxide with the example of the heme-dependent fatty acid decarboxylase OleTJE. The fatty acid decarboxylase OleTJE was discovered due to its unique ability to produce long-chain 1-alkenes from fatty acids, a hitherto unknown enzymatic reaction. 1-alkenes are widely used additives for plasticizers and lubricants. OleTJE has been shown to accept electrons from hydrogen peroxide for the oxidative decarboxylation. While addition of hydrogen peroxide damages the enzyme and results in low yields, in situ generation of the cofactor circumvents this problem. The photobiocatalytic system shows clear advantages regarding enzyme activity and yield, resulting in a simple and efficient system for fatty acid decarboxylation.