Cytochrome P450 Monooxygenases Catalyse Steroid Nucleus Hydroxylation with Regio‐ and Stereo‐Selectivity
Rui Zhu, Yang Liu, Yueying Yang, Qing Min, Hua Li, Lixia Chen
Abstract
Abstract Steroids are the second largest class of drugs with a wide range of pharmacological properties. Hydroxylation of steroids seriously affects their biological activities and other properties. However, steroids are mostly sp 3 hybridized carbons with numerous C−H bonds far from the functional group that can activate them, and achieving regio‐ and stereo‐selective hydroxylation on steroids is a highly challenging task that is almost impossible to achieve using modern organic synthesis techniques. Interestingly, cytochrome P450 monooxygenases possess the ability to catalyse regio‐ and stereo‐selective oxidations of nonactivated C−H bonds in complex organic molecules under mild conditions. This review summarizes the P450s identified and engineered in recent years that can catalyse steroid nucleus hydroxylation stereo‐ and regio‐selectively. magnified image