A host-guest approach to combining enzymatic and artificial catalysis for catalyzing biomimetic monooxygenation

Direct transfer of protons and electrons between two tandem reactions is still a great challenge, because overall reaction kinetics is seriously affected by diffusion rate of the proton and electron carriers. We herein report a host-guest supramolecular strategy based on the incorporation of NADH mimics onto the surface of a metal-organic capsule to encapsulate flavin analogues for catalytic biomimetic monooxygenations in conjunction with enzymes. Coupling an artificial catalysis and a natural enzymatic catalysis in the pocket of an enzyme, this host-guest catalyst-enzyme system allows direct proton and electron transport between two catalytic processes via NADH mimics for the monooxygenation of both cyclobutanones and thioethers. This host-guest approach, which involves the direct coupling of abiotic and biotic catalysts via a NADH-containing host, is quite promising compared to normal catalyst-enzyme systems, as it offers the key advantages of supramolecular catalysis in integrated chemical and biological synthetic sequences.