Catalytic Oxidation of Methane by Wild-Type Cytochrome P450BM3 with Chemically Evolved Decoy Molecules

Biological methane oxidation is a highly desirable method for the conversion of natural gas into a liquid to meet the increasing demand for fuel and chemical feedstock as well as reducing the potent greenhouse effects of methane emissions. Because natural hemoenzymes that can catalyze the conversion of methane to methanol have not been found, it has long been considered that hemoenzymes, including cytochrome P450s (P450s), cannot catalyze the oxidative conversion of methane. Herein, we report the catalytic oxidation of methane by wild-type P450BM3, without any mutagenesis, in the presence of chemically evolved dummy substrates (decoy molecules) under high-pressure methane at 10 MPa. Our studies showed that methane was catalytically converted into methanol at room temperature with a total turnover number of 4.