Unraveling flavoenzyme reaction mechanisms using flavin analogues and linear free energy relationships

Flavoenzymes mediate a large number of different chemical transformations that employ the flavin coenzyme for many different purposes. Flavins are commonly utilized in a variety of both 1- and 2-electron transfers and reactions involving oxygen activation. In addition, flavins have also been shown to function as acid/base catalysts or nucleophilic catalysts, to electrostatically stabilize transition states, and to serve simply as structural components in some enzymes. In all of these functions, the electronic properties of the flavin play a critical role. Studies carried out over a number of years have shown that these electronic properties (and subsequently, the catalytic properties of the flavoenzyme) can be manipulated by altering the substituents on the isoalloxazine ring system of the flavin. Here, we detail methods for the chemoenzymatic preparation and purification of flavin analogues, the reconstitution of apo-flavoenzymes with these analogues, and the use of linear free energy relationships (LFERs) to correlate the perturbations induced by the altered substituents. Using examples from the literature, we highlight how the use of flavin analogues and LFERs can provide mechanistic insight into the transition state structures that define flavoenyzme chemical mechanisms.