Enzymes water mimics

The higher coordinating ability and Lewis acidity of Zn(H) ion in addition to the low pK of the metal-bound water molecule and the appearance of this metal ion in native phosphatases inspired a number of research groups to develop Zn(II)-containing dinuclear artificial phosphatases. In contrast, very few model compounds have been published to mimic the activity of Fe(III) ion in dinuclear centers of phosphatase enzymes. Cu(II) or lanthanide ions are not relevant to natural systems but their chemical properties in certain cases allow extraordinarily high acceleration of phosphate-ester hydrolysis [as much as 108 for copper(II) or 1013 for lanthanide(III) ions]. 

Kluger and Brandi (1986b) also studied the decarboxylation and base-catalysed elimination reactions of lactylthiamin, the adduct of pyruvate and thiamin (Scheme 2). These reactions are nonenzymic models for reactions of the intermediates formed during the reaction catalysed by the enzyme pyruvate decarboxylase. The secondary j3-deuterium KIE for the decarboxylation was found to be 1.09 at pH 3.8 in 0.5 mol dm-3 sodium acetate at 25°C. In the less polar medium, 38% ethanolic aqueous sodium acetate, chosen to mimic the nonpolar reactive site in the enzyme, the reaction is significantly faster but the KIE was, within experimental error, identical to the KIE found in water. This clearly demonstrates that the stabilization of the transition state by hyperconjugation is unaffected by the change in solvent. 

CDs are cyclic oligosaccharides comprised of a-l,4-linked glucopyr-anose units (37- 0). The following properties make CDs attractive components in organic chemistry and supramolecular catalysis/ enzyme mimics in particular (i) CDs are water soluble (ii) their hydrophobic cavity can host a variety of lipophilic guest molecules ... 

A major drawback in obtaining sustainable hydrogen production is the instability of the enzyme during continued operation. One approach is to use living cells, which have the ability to repair, maintain and reproduce themselves. The alternative would be to create a stable and inexpensive synthetic catalyst, which would mimic the properties of the natural enzyme, which is the rapid and reversible activation of H2 at water temperature (below 100°C) and near-neutral pH. Such a catalyst would be most welcome in... 

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