Chiral hydroxylation at the mononuclear nonheme Fe(II) center of 4-(S) hydroxymandelate synthase--a structure-activity relationship analysis.

(S)-Hydroxymandelate synthase (Hms) is a nonheme Fe(II) dependent dioxygenase that catalyzes the oxidation of 4-hydroxyphenylpyruvate to (S)-4-hydroxymandelate by molecular oxygen. In this work, the substrate promiscuity of Hms is characterized in order to assess its potential for the biosynthesis of chiral α-hydroxy acids. Enzyme kinetic analyses, the characterization of product spectra, quantitative structure activity relationship (QSAR) analyses and in silico docking studies are used to characterize the impact of substrate properties on particular steps of catalysis.