7.15 Oxidation: Haloperoxidases

Abstract

This chapter describes the different natural enzymes that have been discovered that can specifically halogenate organic compounds and that have applications in biotransformation reactions. Specific halogenation of a compound can change its chemical and biological properties. There are many naturally halogenated compounds that have been isolated from both marine and terrestrial environments and some examples are presented. Many of these compounds have properties that are of interest to the pharmaceutical industry since they have antibacterial or anticancer activities. This chapter summarizes the enzymes discovered to date and discusses their properties. They include heme haloperoxidases, nonheme iron-dependent halogenases, vanadium haloperoxidases, flavin-dependent haloperoxidases, noncofactor-containing bacterial haloperoxidases, S-adenosyl-. l-methionine-dependent chlorinases and fluorinases, and methyl halide transferases. These enzymes are unrelated structurally and use different mechanisms to achieve their chemical reactions. The known applications of well-studied enzymes are discussed alongside potential applications of more recently discovered enzymes for white biotechnology. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.