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Cross‐Linked Micelles with Enzyme‐Like Active Sites for Biomimetic Hydrolysis of Activated Esters
Author(s) -
Hu Lan,
Zhao Yan
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
helvetica chimica acta
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.74
H-Index - 82
eISSN - 1522-2675
pISSN - 0018-019X
DOI - 10.1002/hlca.201700147
Subject(s) - chemistry , micelle , catalysis , hydrolysis , active site , artificial enzyme , combinatorial chemistry , nucleophile , enzyme , molecule , enzyme catalysis , substrate (aquarium) , reactivity (psychology) , stereochemistry , organic chemistry , aqueous solution , medicine , oceanography , alternative medicine , pathology , geology
Enzymes have substrate‐tailored active sites with optimized molecular recognition and catalytic features. Although many different platforms have been used by chemists to construct enzyme mimics, it is challenging to tune the structure of their active sites systematically. By molecularly imprinting template molecules within doubly cross‐linked micelles, we created protein‐sized nanoparticles with catalytically functionalized binding sites. These enzyme mimics accelerated the hydrolysis of activated esters thousands of times over the background reaction, whereas the analogous catalytic group (a nucleophilic pyridyl derivative) was completely inactive in bulk solution under the same conditions. The template molecules directly controlled the size and shape of the active site and modulated the resulting catalyst's performance at different pHs. The synthetic catalysts displayed Michaelis–Menten enzymatic behavior and, interestingly, reversed the intrinsic reactivity of the activated esters during the hydrolysis.