Biomedical and Biocatalytic Applications

Cellular processes require orthogonal catalysts, that is, ones that can function unaffected by all the other cell components. Organometallic catalysts often fail to act in concert with enzymes because of mutual inactivation. A Cp Ir(chelate)Cl transfer hydrogenation catalyst has now been successfully incorporated into the protein, streptavidin, as an artificial transfer hydrogenase in order to protect it from deactivation in cooperative catalysis with monoamine oxidases.  

Biology uses organometallic chemistry sparingly but always in reactions that are difficult to bring about by conventional means. 

Bertini, H. B. Gray, E. Stiefel, and J. Valentine, Biological Inorganic Chemistry Structure i e cttv 7y. University Science Books, Sausatito,CA, 2007 R. R. Crichton, Biological Inorganic Chemistry, Elsevier, Amsterdam, 2012. 

Physical Chemistry for the Biosciences, University Science, Sau-salito, CA, 2005. 

P Jensen, D. M. Zinkl, and J. Halpern, Inorg. Chem., 38,2386,1999 and references cited. 

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