Enzyme-catalyzed asymmetric dihydroxylation is ap owerful tool fort he selective oxyfunctionalization of various organic compounds. By applying Rieske non-heme dioxygenases (ROs), molecular oxygen and ar eduction equivalent are needed for the generation of vicinal cis-diols. We report ac omprehensive mutagenesis study of the active site of the naphthalene dioxygenasef rom Pseudomonas sp. NCIB 9816-4 comprising 62 variants. We aimed to understand the important structure-function relationships by investigating different substituted arene substrates and the geometry of the active site. Introducing single-point mutations at positions F202, A206, V260, H295, F352, and L307 resulted in drastic shifts in the reactions pecificity,r egioselectivity,a nd stereoselectivity (! 90 %) while maintaining the residual activity towards the natural substrate naphthalene.One of the key reactions in chemistryi st he selective oxyfunctionalization of organic compounds. In this context, chiralv icinal 1,2-diols are of particular interest and are often applied as chiral ligands, auxiliaries, and chiral synthons for pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals.[1] These functionalized compounds are generated by multicomponent Rieske non-heme dioxygenases (ROs), which, analogously to some P450sm onooxygenases, consist of ar eductase, af erredoxin, andahexameric oxygenase.[2] In ROs, categorized as types III and IV,t he reductase obtains electrons from the naturalc osubstrate NAD(P)H,a nd a ferredoxin component shuttles electrons from the reductase to the oxygenase active site, at which actual oxygen activation and substrate hydroxylation occur. [3,4] Representing ab iocatalytic alternative to asymmetricd ihydroxylation with toxic transition-metal catalysts, ROs also exhibit ab road substrate scope.[5] Over 300 diverse substrates ranging from polyaromatic hydrocarbons such as phenanthracene to halogenated ethylenes and flavonoid structures were reportedt ob eh ydroxylated with these enzymes. [6,7] Furthermore, ROs were shown to be suitable for bioremediation applications and to have the ability to process xenobiotics. [8,9] In industry, ROs are utilized to manufacture the blue dye indigo, which is crucial for the production of denim cloth.[10]Oxygen-dependent ROsn ot only convert ah uge variety of compounds, but these catalysts also displayabroad reaction scope. With these enzymes ystems it is possible to address monohydroxylations( Scheme 1, path I), dihydroxylations (Scheme 1, path II), and O-dealkylations (Scheme 1, path III) with high regio-a nd stereoselectivities. [11,12] Recently,s emirational engineering of the cumene dioxygenase (CDO) from Pseudomonas fluorescens IP01 expanded the substrate scope of these versatile catalysts to ar ange of sterically demanding cyclic and linear alkenesa nd monoterpenes. The CDOs ingle variant M232Aw as able to convert different terpeneg eometries such as myrcene and (À)-a-pinene with high specificity and selectivity. [13] This work motivated us to gain furtheri nsighti nto crucial structure-function relation...