Aromatic Pathway Research Articles

Production of Cinnamic and p-Hydroxycinnamic Acids in Engineered Microbes.

The aromatic compounds cinnamic and p-hydroxycinnamic acids (pHCAs) are phenylpropanoids having applications as precursors for the synthesis of thermoplastics, flavoring, cosmetic, and health products. These two aromatic acids can be obtained by chemical synthesis or extraction from plant tissues. However, both manufacturing processes have shortcomings, such as the generation of toxic subproducts or a low concentration in plant material. Alternative production methods are being developed to enable the biotechnological production of cinnamic and (pHCAs) by genetically engineering various microbial hosts, including Escherichia coli, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Pseudomonas putida, and Streptomyces lividans. The natural capacity to synthesize these aromatic acids is not existent in these microbial species. Therefore, genetic modification have been performed that include the heterologous expression of genes encoding phenylalanine ammonia-lyase and tyrosine ammonia-lyase activities, which catalyze the conversion of l-phenylalanine (l-Phe) and l-tyrosine (l-Tyr) to cinnamic acid and (pHCA), respectively. Additional host modifications include the metabolic engineering to increase carbon flow from central metabolism to the l-Phe or l-Tyr biosynthetic pathways. These strategies include the expression of feedback insensitive mutant versions of enzymes from the aromatic pathways, as well as genetic modifications to central carbon metabolism to increase biosynthetic availability of precursors phosphoenolpyruvate and erythrose-4-phosphate. These efforts have been complemented with strain optimization for the utilization of raw material, including various simple carbon sources, as well as sugar polymers and sugar mixtures derived from plant biomass. A systems biology approach to production strains characterization has been limited so far and should yield important data for future strain improvement.

Establishment of a yeast platform strain for production of p-coumaric acid through metabolic engineering of aromatic amino acid biosynthesis

Aromatic amino acids are precursors of numerous plant secondary metabolites with diverse biological functions. Many of these secondary metabolites are already being used as active pharmaceutical or nutraceutical ingredients, and there are numerous exploratory studies of other compounds with promising applications. p-Coumaric acid is derived from aromatic amino acids and, besides being a valuable chemical building block, it serves as precursor for biosynthesis of many secondary metabolites, such as polyphenols, flavonoids, and some polyketides.Here we developed a p-coumaric acid-overproducing Saccharomyces cerevisiae platform strain. First, we reduced by-product formation by knocking out phenylpyruvate decarboxylase ARO10 and pyruvate decarboxylase PDC5. Second, different versions of feedback-resistant DAHP synthase and chorismate mutase were overexpressed. Finally, we identified shikimate kinase as another important flux-controlling step in the aromatic amino acid pathway by overexpressing enzymes from Escherichia coli, homologous to the pentafunctional enzyme Aro1p and to the bifunctional chorismate synthase-flavin reductase Aro2p. The highest titer of p-coumaric acid of 1.93±0.26gL−1 was obtained, when overexpressing tyrosine ammonia-lyase TAL from Flavobacterium johnsoniaeu, DAHP synthase ARO4K229L, chorismate mutase ARO7G141S and E. coli shikimate kinase II (aroL) in Δpdc5Δaro10 strain background. To our knowledge this is the highest reported titer of an aromatic compound produced by yeast.The developed S. cerevisiae strain represents an attractive platform host for production of p-coumaric-acid derived secondary metabolites, such as flavonoids, polyphenols, and polyketides.

Engineering Escherichia coli for renewable benzyl alcohol production

Benzyl alcohol is an aromatic hydrocarbon used as a solvent and an intermediate chemical in the pharmaceutical, cosmetics, and flavor/fragrance industries. The de novo biosynthesis of benzyl alcohol directly from renewable glucose was herein explored using a non-natural pathway engineered in Escherichia coli. Benzaldehyde was first produced from endogenous phenylpyruvate via three heterologous steps, including hydroxymandelate synthase (encoded by hmaS) from Amycolatopsis orientalis, followed by (S)-mandelate dehydrogenase (encoded by mdlB) and phenylglyoxylate decarboxylase (encoded by mdlC) from Pseudomonas putida ATCC 12633. The subsequent rapid and efficient reduction of benzaldehyde to benzyl alcohol occurred by the combined activity and native regulation of multiple endogenous alcohol dehydrogenases and/or aldo-keto reductases. Through systematic deletion of competing aromatic amino acid biosynthesis pathways to promote endogenous phenylpyruvate availability, final benzyl alcohol titers as high as 114±1mg/L were realized, representing a yield of 7.6±0.1mg/g on glucose and a ~5-fold improvement over initial strains.

Kinetics of ethylcyclohexane pyrolysis and oxidation: An experimental and detailed kinetic modeling study

Ethylcyclohexane (ECH) is a model compound for cycloalkanes with long alkyl side-chains. A preliminary investigation on ECH (Wang et al., Proc. Combust. Inst., 35, 2015, 367–375) revealed that an accurate ECH kinetic model with detailed fuel consumption mechanism and aromatic growth pathways, as well as additional ECH pyrolysis and oxidation data with detailed species concentration covering a wide pressure and temperature range are required to understand the ECH combustion kinetics. In this work, the flow reactor pyrolysis of ECH at various pressures (30, 150 and 760Torr) was studied using synchrotron vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) photoionization mass spectrometry (PIMS) and gas chromatography (GC). The mole fraction profiles of numerous major and minor species were evaluated, and good agreement was observed between the PIMS and GC data sets. Furthermore, a fuel-rich burner-stabilized laminar premixed ECH/O2/Ar flame at 30Torr was studied using synchrotron VUV PIMS. A detailed kinetic model for ECH high temperature pyrolysis and oxidation was developed and validated against the pyrolysis and flame data performed in this work. Further validation of the kinetic model is presented against literature data including species concentrations in jet-stirred reactor oxidation, ignition delay times in a shock tube, and laminar flame speeds at various pressures and equivalence ratios. The model well predicts the consumption of ECH, the growth of aromatics, and the global combustion properties. Reaction flux and sensitivity analysis were utilized to elucidate chemical kinetic features of ECH combustion under various reaction conditions.

Light-Induced Regiospecific Bromination of meso-Tetra(3,5-di-tert-butylphenyl)Porphyrin on 2,12 β-Pyrrolic Positions.

The antipodal introduction of two bromine atoms on the 2,12 β-pyrrolic position of 5,10,15,20-tetra(3,5-di-tert-butylphenyl)porphyrin was successfully achieved by a light-induced reaction of the substrate with excess NBS. Complexation with Ni(II) of the major regioisomer led to good quality crystals, suitable for X-ray structure determination with unprecedented probability levels. The regiospecific character of the synthetic procedure and the exactness of the bromine atom position assignment were thus confirmed, suggesting an unexpected electrophilic aromatic substitution pathway rather than a free-radical halogenation process. A QTAIM topological analysis on the DFT-optimized wave function of the monosubstituted free-base porphyrin intermediate carrying a bromine atom in C2 β-pyrrolic position confirmed the largest negative charge for the C12 carbon atom in antipodal position, in agreement with the proposed electrophilic aromatic substitution mechanism.

The induced current strengths and aromatic pathways of heteroporphyrins and their antiaromatic derivatives

The magnetically induced current strengths as well as nucleus independent chemical shifts of aromatic heteroporphyrins and antiaromatic 22,24‐dideazaheteroporphyrins have been studied using the density functional theory method. The induced current strengths and pathways are obtained by numerical integration of the induced current densities following the specific chemical bonds. The total induced current strengths of antiaromatic 22,24‐dideazaheteroporphyrins is about 6 nA/T weaker than the one for the heteroporphyrins in absolute value. The substitution of pyrrole NH groups by O and S atoms does not change the total induced current strengths. The induced currents around the molecular macroring split at the heterocycles (pyrrole, furan, and thiophene) into the inner and outer routes. The heteroatoms (N, O, and S) have high resistance and consequently lead to a weaker induced current strength than the one passing the outer route in aromatic heteroporphyrins. For antiaromatic 22,24‐dideazaheteroporphyrins, the heteroatoms enhance the current strength and change the main current pathway into the inner route. The induced current strength following the NH moiety is stronger than the one passing the oxygen moiety of furan ring and the sulfur moiety of the thiophene ring in both heteroporphyrins and 22,24‐dideazaheteroporphyrins. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Effect of metal ions and metal nanoparticles encapsulated in porous silica on biphenyl biodegradation by Rhodococcus erythropolis T902.1

[en] Biodegradation of biphenyl was carried out by Rhodococcus erythropolis T902.1 in presence ofnanometer-sized metallic (Co, Pd, Ag and Cu) nanoparticles (NPS) synthesized by the sol-gel process. In order toprevent their agglomeration, the metallic NPs (1-2 nm diameter) were anchored inside microporous silica crystallites and named Co/SiO2, Pd/SiO2, Ag/SiO2 and Cu/SiO2 samples respectively. They were added at low concentrations of 10-6 M, 10-5 M and 10-4 M of metal in the culture medium and their impact was compared with that of the simple metal ions added as cobalt, palladium, silver or copper salts. The cultures containing Pd/SiO2 or Co/SiO2 samples at 10-4 M of metal achieved a 50% higher biphenyl degradation yield after 18 days of incubation and improved Rhodococcus erythropolis T902.1 growth compared with those without (positive control) or with silica particles only. The highest biodegradation performance, i.e. 107 pm 3 ppm/day, which was about 85% higher than in control conditions without NPs, was recorded in 250 ml baffled flasks stirred at 150 rpm with Co/SiO2 sample at 10-4 M Co. Furthermore, the stimulating effect of NPs on biphenyl biodegradation seems to also depend on the thermal treatment conditions applied to NPs since the experimental results indicated that, after calcination, the cobalt oxide NPs at a concentration of 10-4 M were more effective than the reduced cobalt NPs with a degradation yield of 81 pm 1% and 77 pm 2% respectively after 18 days. On the other hand, the results showed that the addition of 10-4 M of Cu2+ or Ag+ ions or the addition of Cu/SiO2 or Ag/SiO2 samples at 10-4 M of metal have an inhibitory effect on biphenyl biodegradation. However, Cu2+ and Ag+ ions were more toxic to the Rhodococcus erythropolis T902.1 bacteria than the respective Cu or Ag NPS anchored inside silica particles. Moreover, this work showed that in theseconditions, the activity of catechol 1, 2-dioxygenase (a critical enzyme in aromatic biodegradation pathway) was severely inhibited, whereas the presence of 10-4 M of Co2+ ions or Co/SiO2 sample stimulated the enzyme activity compared to the conditions without NPs.

Aromatic Hydrocarbon Utilization Ability of Chromohalobacter sp.

The aim of this study is to reveal the ability of utilizing different aromatic hydrocarbons (p-hydroxybenzoic acid, naphthalene, phenanthrene, and pyrene) by a halotolerant bacterial strain, Chromohalobacter sp., under saline conditions. The aromatic hydrocarbon degradation pathways were identified. PCR amplification was carried to define the gene zones which codify the dioxygenases of the isolates. The possible gene zones of catechol 1, 2 dioxygenase and protocatechuate 3, and 4 dioxygenase were determined. According to the PCR amplification and enzyme test results Chromohalobacter sp. utilizes aromatic hydrocarbons by the ortho cleavage of the s-ketoadipate pathway. In this study, it was concluded that this isolate can be used in bioremediation studies of saline environments contaminated with aromatic hydrocarbons.

(Per)chlorate-reducing bacteria can utilize aerobic and anaerobic pathways of aromatic degradation with (per)chlorate as an electron acceptor.

ABSTRACTThe pathways involved in aromatic compound oxidation under perchlorate and chlorate [collectively known as (per)chlorate]-reducing conditions are poorly understood. Previous studies suggest that these are oxygenase-dependent pathways involving O2 biogenically produced during (per)chlorate respiration. Recently, we described Sedimenticola selenatireducens CUZ and Dechloromarinus chlorophilus NSS, which oxidized phenylacetate and benzoate, two key intermediates in aromatic compound catabolism, coupled to the reduction of perchlorate or chlorate, respectively, and nitrate. While strain CUZ also oxidized benzoate and phenylacetate with oxygen as an electron acceptor, strain NSS oxidized only the latter, even at a very low oxygen concentration (1%, vol/vol). Strains CUZ and NSS contain similar genes for both the anaerobic and aerobic-hybrid pathways of benzoate and phenylacetate degradation; however, the key genes (paaABCD) encoding the epoxidase of the aerobic-hybrid phenylacetate pathway were not found in either genome. By using transcriptomics and proteomics, as well as by monitoring metabolic intermediates, we investigated the utilization of the anaerobic and aerobic-hybrid pathways on different electron acceptors. For strain CUZ, the results indicated utilization of the anaerobic pathways with perchlorate and nitrate as electron acceptors and of the aerobic-hybrid pathways in the presence of oxygen. In contrast, proteomic results suggest that strain NSS may use a combination of the anaerobic and aerobic-hybrid pathways when growing on phenylacetate with chlorate. Though microbial (per)chlorate reduction produces molecular oxygen through the dismutation of chlorite (ClO2−), this study demonstrates that anaerobic pathways for the degradation of aromatics can still be utilized by these novel organisms.

Regulation of primary metabolic pathways in oyster mushroom mycelia induced by blue light stimulation: accumulation of shikimic acid.

Shikimic acid is a key intermediate in the aromatic amino acid pathway as well as an important starting material for the synthesis of Tamiflu, a potent and selective inhibitor of the neuraminidase enzyme of influenza viruses A and B. Here we report that in oyster mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus) mycelia cultivated in the dark, stimulation with blue light-emitting diodes induces the accumulation of shikimic acid. An integrated analysis of primary metabolites, gene expression and protein expression suggests that the accumulation of shikimic acid caused by blue light stimulation is due to an increase in 3-deoxy-D-arabinoheptulosonate 7-phosphate synthase (DAHPS, EC2.5.1.54), the rate-determining enzyme in the shikimic acid pathway, as well as phosphofructokinase (PFK, EC2.7.1.11) and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD, EC1.1.1.49), the rate-determining enzymes in the glycolysis and pentose phosphate pathways, respectively. This stimulation results in increased levels of phosphoenolpyruvic acid (PEP) and erythrose-4-phosphate (E4P), the starting materials of shikimic acid biosynthesis.

Enhanced biosynthesis of plasmid DNA from Escherichia coli VH33 using Box–Behnken design associated to aromatic amino acids pathway

Therapeutic applications of plasmid DNA have significantly advanced during the last years and future demand for plasmid DNA requires the development of efficient bioprocesses. Concerning these facts, our aim is to optimize the yield of a therapeutic plasmid pcDNA3–FLAG–p53 using a new bacterial strain, Escherichia coli VH33. This innovative research combines the potential of VH33, which uses a different glucose transport allowing efficient growth and lower acetate production, for pDNA biosynthesis with a validated factorial design. This work achieved higher plasmid yields of 81.77μg pDNA/mL, when compared with other results for similar assays which reached about 40μg pDNA/mL. The strategy is based on the change of fermentation media composition in terms of nutrients, by the development of an experimental design directed to aromatic amino acids pathway. The results revealed which combination should be applied in terms of nitrogen and carbon source requirements in order to obtain 36.69μg pDNA/mg cell dry mass of specific yields and 6.01% of purity on lysates. Overall, the proposal model show the influence of tyrosine, phenylalanine and tryptophan on their pathway, providing necessary precursors to nucleotides’ network, as well as temperature shift (37–42°C) to increase the plasmid copy number per cell.

On the Mechanism of Phenolic Formylation Mediated by TiCl4 Complexes: Existence of Diradical Intermediates Induced by Valence Tautomerism

AbstractThe conventional electrophilic intramolecular aromatic substitution pathway proposed by Cresp et al. [J. Chem. Soc., Perkin Trans. 1 1973, 340–345] is confirmed by the observed products of phenolic formylation mediated by TiCl4. However, when the nucleophilic path is quenched by appropriate ligand modification, the initial equilibria between the possible neutral complexes of TiCl4 with 3,5‐dimethoxyphenol and/or diethyl ether lead to different stable diradical intermediates induced by valence tautomerism that provide valuable activated reagents. Some of these species have been detected by EPR, characterized theoretically and captured by TEMPO, thus providing a consistent mechanism for the reaction with one or more equivalents of TEMPO per phenol.

Metabolic engineering of Klebsiella pneumoniae for the production of cis,cis-muconic acid.

cis,cis-Muconic acid (ccMA), a metabolic intermediate of Klebsiella pneumoniae, can be converted to adipic acid and terephthalic acid, which are important monomers of synthetic polymers. However, wild-type K. pneumoniae does not produce ccMA because intracellular carbon flow does not favor ccMA biosynthesis. In this study, several metabolic engineering strategies were used in an attempt to modify the wild-type strain to induce it to produce ccMA. First, by blocking the synthesis of aromatic amino acids, 343 mg/L of catechol, a precursor of ccMA, was produced. Then, the native catechol 1,2-dioxygenasegene (catA) was overexpressed, which caused the strain to convert the catechol to ccMA. The production of ccMA was further improved by deletion of the muconate cycloisomerase gene (catB) and by deleting a feedback inhibitor of the aromatic amino acid pathway. Further improvement was achieved by adjusting the pH of the culture broth. The developed strain produced 2.1 g/L of ccMA in flask cultivation. The results showed the potential of K. pneumoniae as a ccMA producer.

Functional characterization of a vanillin dehydrogenase in Corynebacterium glutamicum

Vanillin dehydrogenase (VDH) is a crucial enzyme involved in the degradation of lignin-derived aromatic compounds. Herein, the VDH from Corynebacterium glutamicum was characterized. The relative molecular mass (Mr) determined by SDS-PAGE was ~51kDa, whereas the apparent native Mr values revealed by gel filtration chromatography were 49.5, 92.3, 159.0 and 199.2kDa, indicating the presence of dimeric, trimeric and tetrameric forms. Moreover, the enzyme showed its highest level of activity toward vanillin at pH 7.0 and 30C, and interestingly, it could utilize NAD+ and NADP+ as coenzymes with similar efficiency and showed no obvious difference toward NAD+ and NADP+. In addition to vanillin, this enzyme exhibited catalytic activity toward a broad range of substrates, including p-hydroxybenzaldehyde, 3,4-dihydroxybenzaldehyde, o-phthaldialdehyde, cinnamaldehyde, syringaldehyde and benzaldehyde. Conserved catalytic residues or putative cofactor interactive sites were identified based on sequence alignment and comparison with previous studies, and the function of selected residues were verified by site-directed mutagenesis analysis. Finally, the vdh deletion mutant partially lost its ability to grow on vanillin, indicating the presence of alternative VDH(s) in Corynebacterium glutamicum. Taken together, this study contributes to understanding the VDH diversity from bacteria and the aromatic metabolism pathways in C. glutamicum.

Aromatic catabolic pathway selection for optimal production of pyruvate and lactate from lignin

Lignin represents an untapped feedstock for the production of fuels and chemicals, but its intrinsic heterogeneity makes lignin valorization a significant challenge. In nature, many aerobic organisms degrade lignin-derived aromatic molecules through conserved central intermediates including catechol and protocatechuate. Harnessing this microbial approach offers potential for lignin upgrading in modern biorefineries, but significant technical development is needed to achieve this end. Catechol and protocatechuate are subjected to aromatic ring cleavage by dioxygenase enzymes that, depending on the position, ortho or meta relative to adjacent hydroxyl groups, result in different products that are metabolized through parallel pathways for entry into the TCA cycle. These degradation pathways differ in the combination of succinate, acetyl-CoA, and pyruvate produced, the reducing equivalents regenerated, and the amount of carbon emitted as CO2—factors that will ultimately impact the yield of the targeted product. As shown here, the ring-cleavage pathways can be interchanged with one another, and such substitutions have a predictable and substantial impact on product yield. We demonstrate that replacement of the catechol ortho degradation pathway endogenous to Pseudomonas putida KT2440 with an exogenous meta-cleavage pathway from P. putida mt-2 increases yields of pyruvate produced from aromatic molecules in engineered strains. Even more dramatically, replacing the endogenous protocatechuate ortho pathway with a meta-cleavage pathway from Sphingobium sp. SYK-6 results in a nearly five-fold increase in pyruvate production. We further demonstrate the aerobic conversion of pyruvate to l-lactate with a yield of 41.1±2.6% (wt/wt). Overall, this study illustrates how aromatic degradation pathways can be tuned to optimize the yield of a desired product in biological lignin upgrading.

Direct C-H arene homocoupling over gold nanoparticles supported on metal oxides.

The direct CH/CH bond coupling of dimethyl phthalate was performed successfully over supported gold nanoparticle catalysts. Gold on reducible metal oxides, such as Co3 O4 , and on inert oxides that have an oxygen-releasing capacity, such as ZrO2 , showed the highest catalytic activity for the production of biphenyl tetracarboxylate using O2 as the sole oxidant. Supported Pd(OH)2 also catalyzed the reaction, but the catalytic activity was inferior to that of gold. Moreover, the gold catalysts exhibited excellent regioselectivity for the synthesis of valuable 3,3',4,4'-tetrasubstituted biphenyls by coupling with each other at the 4-position without the need for additional ligands. Gold catalysts also promoted the oxidative homocoupling of arenes including o-xylene to give symmetrical biaryls with high regioselectivity. X-ray absorption fine structure measurements revealed that the catalytically active species was Au(0) and that the lattice oxygen of Co3 O4 played an important role in the gold-catalyzed oxidative coupling. The results of the kinetic studies were consistent with an electrophilic aromatic substitution pathway. Regioselectivity is not controlled by directing groups or the electronic character of the substituents but by steric hindrance, which suggests that gold nanoparticles not only catalyze the oxidative coupling but also act as bulky ligands to control the regioselectivity.

Kinetic modeling study of benzene and PAH formation in laminar methane flames

Methane is probably the most frequently studied hydrocarbon fuel. Both its oxidation mechanism and its pyrolysis to higher-mass products have received considerable attention. In order to have a glance into the combustion chemistry of methane, a detailed kinetic model was developed to reproduce the fuel decomposition and the formation of benzene and PAHs in laminar methane flames. The model was validated against the experimental data from previous works on premixed flames, counter flow diffusion flames, and finally the coflow diffusion flames experimentally investigated in this work. Reaction pathway analysis highlights the combustion kinetics of methane in various flame conditions, including the differences in fuel consumption paths, and the formation of low molecular weight species, benzene and PAHs. C2–C4 species are important intermediates in the combustion of methane, which significantly control the formation of larger molecules and the emission of pollutants. Resonantly stabilized free radicals, such as propargyl, benzyl and indenyl radicals are major PAH precursors, but other aromatic radicals like phenyl and naphthyl radicals also play a significant role. Their self-recombination reactions or the addition reactions on small hydrocarbon intermediates (e.g., C2 species) are effective aromatic grown pathways in laminar methane flames.

Biocatalytic conversion of lignin to aromatic dicarboxylic acids in Rhodococcus jostii RHA1 by re-routing aromatic degradation pathways

A gene insertion approach is used in Rhodococcus jostii RHA1 to generate pyridine-dicarboxylic acid bioproducts from lignin.

Biodegradation of p-cresol by Pseudomonas spp.

Phenols are toxic to several biochemical reactions. However, biological transformation of phenols to nontoxic entities exists in specialized microbes, owing to enzymatic potential involving enzymes of aromatic catabolic pathways. In this study, a series of experiments were performed to examine the effects of the mineral medium composition and the pH on p-cresol removal. In this purpose, p-cresol biodegradation was carried out in a batch reactor containing mixed bacteria; the temperature (30°C), the stirring velocity (200 rpm), the KH2PO4 concentration (1.5 g/L), the K2HPO4 concentration (2 g/L), and p-cresol concentration (100 mg/L) were kept constants. The initial pH was varied in the range 5–9 and the mineral components were tested in the following concentration ranges: 0–2 g/L for Nitrogen sources (NH4Cl, KNO3, and NH4NO3), 0–0.5 g/L for NaCl, and 0–0.2 g/L for MgSO4. Their effects on p-cresol biodegradation and specific growth rate were examined. The shorter biodegradation time of p-cresol was 30.5 h for NH4Cl, NaCl, and MgSO4 concentrations of 1, 0.3, and 0.1 g/L, respectively. Maximum specific growth rate (0.34 h−1) and total p-cresol removal were recorded for an optimal pH value of 8.

Designing a Cu(II)-ArCu(II)-ArCu(III)-Cu(I) catalytic cycle: Cu(II)-catalyzed oxidative arene C-H bond azidation with air as an oxidant under ambient conditions.

On the basis of our recent discovery of high valent organocopper compounds, we have designed and achieved efficient copper(II)-catalyzed oxidative arene C-H bond azidation under very mild aerobic conditions by using NaN3 as an azide source. In the presence of a Cu(II) catalyst, a number of azacalix[1]arene[3]pyridines underwent direct arene C-H bond cupration through an electrophilic aromatic metalation pathway to form an arylcopper(II) intermediate. Oxidized by a free copper(II) ion, the arylcopper(II) intermediate was transformed into an arylcopper(III) species that subsequently cross-coupled with azide to furnish the formation of aryl azide products with the release of a copper(I) ion. Under ambient catalytic reaction conditions, the copper(I) species generated was oxidized by air into copper(II), which entered into the next catalytic cycle. Application of the method was demonstrated by the synthesis of functional azacalix[1]arene[3]pyridines by means of simple and practical functional group transformations of azide. The showcase of the Cu(II)-ArCu(II)-ArCu(III)-Cu(I) catalytic cycle would provide a new strategy for the design of copper(II)-catalyzed aerobic oxidative arene C-H bond activation and transformations.