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Published on: October 5, 2019
Green-Box-Based Supramolecular Artificial Cofactor for Visible-Light-Driven Asymmetric Photo-enzyme Catalysis
Chenjing Liu1, Naiyao Li1, Zhaoguang Zhang1
1Frontier Institute of Science and Technology, Interdisciplinary Research Center of Frontier Science and Technology, State Key Laboratory for Strength and Vibration of Mechanical Structures, Institute of New Concept Sensors and Molecular Materials, Shaanxi Key Laboratory of New Conceptual Sensors and Molecular Materials, Engineering Research Center of Key Materials for Efficient Utilization of Clean Energy of Shaanxi Province, Xi'an Key Laboratory of Electronic Devices and Material Chemistry, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi Province 710054, P. R. China.
None:
Photo-enzyme catalytic systems integrate photocatalysis, electron transfer, and enzymatic transformations; however, their overall efficiency is often limited by the spatial separation of active components, which prevents the compact architectures analogous to the "Z-scheme" in photosynthesis. Here, we report a supramolecular artificial cofactor (SeV-Rh-Box⊃NAD+) via host-guest interactions between a selenoviologen-based tetracationic cyclophane (Green Box derivative, SeV-Rh-Box) and NAD+. When paired with alcohol dehydrogenase, this artificial cofactor forms an integrated photo-enzyme catalytic system capable of visible-light-driven asymmetric synthesis of chiral bioactive molecules. The system exhibits high catalytic performance, with enantiomeric excesses exceeding 87% and turnover numbers surpassing 47,700, maintaining over 50% catalytic efficiency after 24 h and 8 reaction cycles. The supramolecular architecture promotes intramolecular directional electron transfer to a rhodium catalytic site, thereby enhancing enzyme cofactor regeneration under light irradiation. Transient absorption and electrochemical analyses confirm efficient photoinduced electron transfer and redox cycling. This work presents a modular strategy to bridge photocatalysis and biocatalysis through supramolecular self-assembly, offering a generalizable platform for light-powered asymmetric synthesis.
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