Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 21, 2026

Multiscale Sampling of a Heterogeneous Water/Metal Catalyst Interface using Density Functional Theory and Force-Field Molecular Dynamics
Published on: April 12, 2019
Toward chemistry-based design of the simplest metalloenzyme-like catalyst that works efficiently in water
Taku Kitanosono1, Shū Kobayashi
1Department of Chemistry, School of Science, The University of Tokyo, Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033 (Japan), Fax: (+81) 3-5684-0634.
Abstract:
Enzymes exhibit overwhelmingly superior catalysis compared with artificial catalysts. Current strategies to rival enzymatic catalysis require unmodified or minimally modified structures of active sites, gigantic molecular weight, and sometimes the use of harsh conditions such as extremely low temperatures in organic solvents. Herein, we describe a design of small molecules that act as the simplest metalloenzyme-like catalysts that can function in water, without mimicking enzyme structures. These artificial catalysts efficiently promoted enantioselective direct-type aldol reactions using aqueous formaldehyde. The reactions followed Michaelis-Menten kinetics, and heat-resistant asymmetric environments were constructed in water.
Related Concept Videos
Heterogeneous Catalysis
Introduction to Mechanisms of Enzyme Catalysis
Introduction to Mechanisms of Enzyme Catalysis
Catalysis
Reduction of Alkenes: Asymmetric Catalytic Hydrogenation
The metal catalyst used can be either heterogeneous or homogeneous. When hydrogenation of an alkene generates a chiral center, a pair of enantiomeric products is expected to form. However, an enantiomeric excess of one of the products can be facilitated using an enantioselective reaction or an...
Metal-Ligand Bonds
In these complexes, transition metals form coordinate covalent bonds, a kind of Lewis acid-base interaction in which both of the electrons in the bond are contributed by a donor (Lewis base) to an electron acceptor (Lewis acid). The Lewis acid in...

