Abstract 2540 Engineering glycyl radical enzymes for selective olefin hydroalkylation

Anaerobic microbes use glycyl radical enzymes known as X-succinate synthases (XSSs) to activate hydrocarbons for metabolism. Their remarkable ability to selectively activate inert C–H bonds without molecular oxygen and subsequently convert them into new C–C bonds makes them promising biocatalysts for organic synthesis and bioremediation tools. While microbes harboring XSSs have been studied for decades, the limited biochemical and structural characterization of these enzymes has hindered their potential applications in biotechnology.