Regioselective C-H hydroxylation of omeprazole sulfide by Bacillus megaterium CYP102A1 to produce a human metabolite.

Objectives: To find a simple enzymatic strategy for the efficient synthesis of the expensive 5'-hydroxyomeprazole sulfide, a recently identified minor human metabolite, from omeprazole sulfide, which is an inexpensive substrate.

Results: The practical synthetic strategy for the 5'-OH omeprazole sulfide was accomplished with a set of highly active CYP102A1 mutants, which were obtained by blue colony screening from CYP102A1 libraries with a high conversion yield. The mutant and even the wild-type enzyme of CYP102A1 catalyzed the high regioselective (98 %) C-H hydroxylation of omeprazole sulfide to 5'-OH omeprazole sulfide with a high conversion yield (85-90 %).

Conclusions: A highly efficient synthesis of 5'-OH omeprazole sulfide was developed using CYP102A1 from Bacillus megaterium as a biocatalyst.