Advances in the electrochemical simulation of oxidation reactions mediated by cytochrome p450.

Combining electrochemistry with mass spectrometry constitutes an increasingly useful approach for simulating reactions catalyzed by cytochrome P450 (CYP450). In this review, we discuss the ability of the electrochemical cell to act as a reliable tool to mimic CYP450. The electrochemical oxidation process and CYP450-catalyzed reactions are compared in terms of mechanistic pathways, chemical structures of reactive intermediate metabolites, and final chemical structures of oxidation products. The oxidation reactions mediated by CYP450 are known to occur by either a single electron transfer (SET) or a hydrogen atom transfer (HAT) mechanism. The similarities between the reactions mediated electrochemically or by CYP450 are discussed in terms of SET and HAT mechanisms.