The biosynthesis of the natural product dehydrofosmidomycin involves an unusual transformation in which 2‐(trimethylamino)ethylphosphonate is rearranged, desaturated and demethylated by the enzyme DfmD, a divergent member of the 2‐oxoglutarate‐dependent dioxygenase superfamily. Although other members of this enzyme family catalyze superficially similar transformations, the combination of all three reactions in a single enzyme has not previously been observed. By characterizing the products of in vitro reactions with labeled and unlabeled substrates, we show that DfmD performs this transformation in two steps, with the first involving desaturation of the substrate to form 2‐(trimethylamino)vinylphosphonate, and the second involving rearrangement and demethylation to form methyldehydrofosmidomycin. These data reveal significant differences from the desaturation and rearrangement reactions catalyzed by other family members.

The biosynthesis of the natural product dehydrofosmidomycin involves an unusual transformation in which 2‐(trimethylamino)ethylphosphonate is rearranged, desaturated and demethylated by the enzyme DfmD, a divergent member of the 2‐oxoglutarate‐dependent dioxygenase superfamily. Although other members of this enzyme family catalyze superficially similar transformations, the combination of all three reactions in a single enzyme has not previously been observed. By characterizing the products of in vitro reactions with labeled and unlabeled substrates, we show that DfmD performs this transformation in two steps, with the first involving desaturation of the substrate to form 2‐(trimethylamino)vinylphosphonate, and the second involving rearrangement and demethylation to form methyldehydrofosmidomycin. These data reveal significant differences from the desaturation and rearrangement reactions catalyzed by other family members.