Recently, the research group led by Prof. Zhong Fangrui published their research work entitled "Expanding Promiscuity of a Copper-Dependent Oxidase for the Enantioselective Cross-Coupling of Indoles" online on Angewandte Chemie International Edition.

Abstract: Herein, we disclose the highly enantioselective oxidative cross-coupling of 3-hydroxyindole esters with various nucleophilic partners as catalyzed by copper efflux oxidase. The biocatalytic transformation delivers functionalized 2,2-disubstituted indolin-3-ones with excellent optical purity (90–99% ee), which exhibited anticancer activity against MCF-7 cell lines, as shown by preliminary biological evaluation. Mechanistic studies and molecular docking results suggest the formation of a phenoxyl radical and enantiocontrol facilitated by a suited enzyme chiral pocket. This study is significant with regard to expanding the catalytic repertoire of natural multicopper oxidases as well as enlarging the synthetic toolbox for sustainable asymmetric oxidative coupling.

Link to this paper: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/anie.202219034