Enzymes are usually very specific, often compared to a key for a particular lock. Converting methane to methanol using enzymes other than methane monooxygenase was thought to be impossible.
"When added to the enzyme, the enzyme mistakenly takes in the 'decoy molecules' as the original target compound, and the enzyme is activated. If a molecule, in this case methane, that is normally unreactive, is added to the enzyme, the enzyme will mistake the decoy molecule for the original target compound and take it in. The activated enzyme then converts the methane to another molecule by 'mistake.
The group next searched for decoy molecules with an optimal structure to anchor the smallest methane molecule in the reaction pocket of P450BM3. The researchers investigated about 40 molecules that had been found to be effective in ethane hydroxylation from a library of about 600 decoy molecules. In a breakthrough, Shoji confirmed that the most efficient decoy molecule could convert methane to methanol in water at room temperature.using P450BM3," said Shoji.