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Updated: May 1, 2026

Development of Heterogeneous Enantioselective Catalysts using Chiral Metal-Organic Frameworks MOFs
Published on: January 17, 2020
Porous protein crystals as catalytic vessels for organometallic complexes
Hiroyasu Tabe1, Satoshi Abe, Tatsuo Hikage
1Department of Synthetic Chemistry and Biological Chemistry, Graduate School of Engineering, Kyoto University, Katsura, Nishikyo-ku, Kyoto 615-8510 (Japan); Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences), Kyoto University, Yoshida, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8501 (Japan).
Abstract:
Porous protein crystals, which are protein assemblies in the solid state, have been engineered to form catalytic vessels by the incorporation of organometallic complexes. Ruthenium complexes in cross-linked porous hen egg white lysozyme (HEWL) crystals catalyzed the enantioselective hydrogen-transfer reduction of acetophenone derivatives. The crystals accelerated the catalytic reaction and gave different enantiomers based on the crystal form (tetragonal or orthorhombic). This method represents a new approach for the construction of bioinorganic catalysts from protein crystals.
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