The catalytic promiscuity of a ferulic acid decarboxylase from Enterobacter sp. (FDC_Es) and phenolic acid decarboxylases (PADs) for the asymmetric conjugate addition of water across the C=C bond of hydroxystyrenes was extended to the N‐, C‐ and S‐nucleophiles methoxyamine, cyanide and propanethiol to furnish the corresponding addition products in up to 91% ee. The products obtained from the biotransformation employing the most suitable enzyme/nucleophile pairs were isolated and characterized after optimizing the reaction conditions. Finally, a mechanistic rationale supported by quantum mechanical calculations for the highly (S)‐selective addition of cyanide is proposed.

The promiscuous regio- and stereoselective hydration of 4-hydroxystyrenes catalyzed by ferulic acid decarboxylase from Enterobacter sp. (FDC_Es) depends on bicarbonate bound in the active site, which serves as a proton relay activating a water molecule for nucleophilic attack on a quinone methide electrophile. This “cofactor” is crucial for achieving improved conversions and high stereoselectivities for (S)-configured benzylic alcohol products. Similar effects were observed with simple aliphatic carboxylic acids as additives. A rational redesign of the active site by replacing the bicarbonate or acetate “cofactor” with a newly introduced side-chain carboxylate from an adjacent amino acid yielded mutants that efficiently acted as C=C hydratases. A single-point mutation of valine 46 to glutamate or aspartate improved the hydration activity by 40% and boosted the stereoselectivity 39-fold in the absence of bicarbonate or acetate.

The binding of two photoswitches to the human voltage-gated sodium channel NaV1.4 was computationally investigated, and the main interactions involved in the process were unveiled and characterized.

The operability and substrate scope of a redesigned vinylphenol hydratase as a single biocatalyst or as part of multienzyme cascades using either substituted coumaric acids or phenols as stable, cheap, and readily available substrates are reported.