Catalyzed and Electrocatalyzed Oxidation of l -Tyrosine and l -Phenylalanine to Dopachrome by Nanozymes

Catalyzed oxygen insertion into C-H bonds represents a continuous challenge in chemistry. Particularly, driving this process at ambient temperature and aqueous media represents a "holy grail" in catalysis. We report on the catalyzed cascade transformations of l-tyrosine or l-phenylalanine to dopachrome in the presence of l-ascorbic acid/H₂O₂ as oxidizing mixture and CuFe-Prussian Blue-like nanoparticles, Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles or Au nanoparticles as catalysts. The process involves the primary transformation of l-tyrosine to l-DOPA that is further oxidized to dopachrome. The transformation of l-phenylalanine to dopachrome in the presence of CuFe-Prussian Blue-like nanoparticles and l-ascorbic acid/H₂O₂ involves in the first step the formation of l-tyrosine and, subsequently, the operation of the catalytic oxidation cascade of l-tyrosine to l-DOPA and dopachrome. Electron spin resonance experiments demonstrate that ascorbate radicals and hydroxyl radicals play cooperative functions in driving the different oxygen-insertion processes. In addition, the aerobic elecrocatalyzed oxidation of l-tyrosine to dopachrome in the presence of naphthoquinone-modified Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles and l-ascorbic acid is demonstrated. In this system, magnetic-field attraction of the naphthoquinone-modified Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles onto the electrode allows the quinone-mediated electrocatalyzed reduction of O₂ to H₂O₂ (bias potential -0.5 V vs SCE). The electrogenerated H₂O₂ is then utilized to promote the transformation of l-tyrosine to dopachrome in the presence of l-ascorbic acid and Fe₃O₄ catalyst.