Caffeine: Difference between revisions

Caffeine is a naturally occurring methylxanthine, purine alkaloid, synthesized by eudicot plants such as coffee, cacao, and tea (Denoeud et. al, 2014). In order to synthesize caffeine, xanthosine must undergo 3 methylation steps with the help of three NMT enzymes; xanthosine methyltransferase (XMT), theobromine synthase (MXMT), and caffeine synthase (DXMT) (Denoeud et. al, 2014). The first step of caffeine biosynthesis involves XMT converting S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) to S-adenosylhomocysteine (SAH) which removes a methyl group and adds it to the 7’-Nitrogen. This produces the intermediate 7-methyl-xanthosine which may undergo resonance to become 7-methyl-xanthine (Denoeud et. al, 2014). The second enzyme, MXMT, converts another SAM to SAH, subsequently add a methyl group to the 3’- Nitrogen on 7-methyl-xanthine. This produces theobromine which may undergo another methylation step with the help of the enzyme DXMT. DXMT converts a third SAM to SAH, adding a methyl group to the 1’-Nitrogen, yielding a caffeine molecule (Denoeud et. al, 2014).

== Structural highlights ==