Current State and Future Perspectives of Engineered and Artificial Peroxygenases for the Oxyfunctionalization of Organic Molecules

Peroxygenases are attractive biocatalysts for the selective introduction of oxygen into organic molecules under mild conditions with hydrogen peroxide as the oxygen source. In addition to the identification of primary peroxygenases, different classes of enzymes were shown to display promiscuous peroxygenase activity. Even though enzymes with peroxygenase activity are promising industrial biocatalysts, further optimization of their properties is required for their effective use in industrial applications. Here we give a comprehensive overview of enzymes with peroxygenase activity and review diverse strategies, including directed evolution, rational approaches and the assistance of small functional molecules to improve the expression, catalytic activity, substrate scope or selectivity of these promising enzymes. Furthermore, we discuss the exploration of modified or unnatural cofactors to design artificial peroxygenases for desired reactions. The rapidly expanding field of hydrogen peroxide-utilizing enzymes bears a great potential to provide biocatalysts for selective oxyfunctionalization chemistry, contributing to the development of environmentally friendly and sustainable oxidation processes. [Figure not available: see fulltext.]