Sesquiterpene Synthase-Catalysed Formation of a New Medium-Sized Cyclic Terpenoid Ether from Farnesyl Diphosphate Analogues

Abstract

Terpene synthases catalyse the first step in the conversion of prenyl diphosphates to terpenoids. They act as templates for their substrates to generate a reactive conformation, from which a Mg²⁺ -dependent reaction creates a carbocation-PP_i ion pair that undergoes a series of rearrangements and (de)protonations to give the final terpene product. This tight conformational control was exploited for the (R)-germacrene A synthase- and germacradien-4-ol synthase-catalysed formation of a medium-sized cyclic terpenoid ether from substrates containing nucleophilic functional groups. Farnesyl diphosphate analogues with a 10,11-epoxide or an allylic alcohol were efficiently converted to a 11-membered cyclic terpenoid ether that was characterised by HRMS and NMR spectroscopic analyses. Further experiments showed that other sesquiterpene synthases, including aristolochene synthase, δ-cadinene synthase and amorphadiene synthase, yielded this novel terpenoid from the same substrate analogues. This work illustrates the potential of terpene synthases for the efficient generation of structurally and functionally novel medium-sized terpene ethers.

Keywords: biocatalysis; enzyme catalysis; ethers; ring systems; synthases; terpenoids.