New Stetter reactions catalyzed by thiamine diphosphate dependent MenD from E. coli

• Acrylate, methacrylate and derivatives as substrates for enzymatic CC bond formation.
• Unexpected substrate and reaction range of thiamine-dependent MenD.
• Enzymatic Stetter reactions as a more general feature of thiamine-dependent enzymes.

The intermolecular asymmetric Stetter reaction is a rarely found biocatalysts transformation. MenD, the second enzyme of the menaquinone biosynthetic pathway, catalyzes as a physiological reaction a Stetter-like addition of α-ketoglutarate to isochorismate. The substrate range of MenD for similar 1,4-additions is highly restricted. All other thiamine diphosphate dependent enzymes known to act as stetterases are members of the PigD enzyme subfamily, which accept aliphatic and aromatic α,β-unsaturated ketones and thioesters as Michael acceptor substrates. Here, we describe the unexpected activity of MenD with short-chain α,β-unsaturated acids and derivatives as substrates in Stetter reactions. MenD possesses a characteristic substrate range with respect to Michael acceptor substrates which is distinctly different from the classical stetterases. This provides biocatalytic access to new types of products which are not related to the products currently accessible by thiamine diphosphate dependent enzyme catalysis.