Combining enzymes and organometallics: Biohybrids as new efficient catalysts in C-H bond activation
Transition metal catalysts and enzymes possess unique and often complementary properties that have made them important tools for chemical synthesis. The combination of a catalytically active organometallic moiety with a macromolecular host has permitted to create biohybrids, a new kind of heterogeneous catalytic entities combining the attractive features of both homogeneous and enzymatic systems.
In this way, here I present a novel efficient and straightforward strategy to synthesize a new kind of heterogeneous bionanohybrid catalysts based on the combination of an enzyme and noble metal salts or organometallic complex. The metal- nanobiohybrids were produced by synthesis of metal nanoparticles generated in situ from an aqueous noble metal salt solution and embedded on the protein structure, or the preparation of organometallic –enzyme aggregates by introducing the organometallic molecule in the active site of the protein previously solid-supported.
These new heterogeneous catalysts have been obtained in multimiligrams scale, with excellent recycle capacity and successfully used at different synthetic reactions in particular C-H activation.
