L-Cysteine-derived thiazolidines have now been shown to be artificial substrates of the radical SAM enzyme HydE, which converts them into S-adenosyl-L-cysteine. Carbon–sulfur bonds are formed in a concerted mechanism that involves the formation of a C-centred radical that concomitantly attacks the S atom of a thioether. This is the first example of a radical SAM enzyme that reacts directly on a sulfur atom instead of abstracting an H-atom.
- Roman Rohac
- Patricia Amara
- Yvain Nicolet
