Functional Metallocenes as Cofactors Promote the Catalytic Performance of Mimetic Enzymes.

Coenzymes (cofactors) are essential for bio-redox reactions, group transfer reactions, and heterogeneous reactions of bio-enzymes, as well as the auxiliary transfer of electrons or atoms to promote bio-enzyme activity. However, when mimetic enzymes are scaled to the micro or nanoscale levels, both the absence of cofactor activity and the presence of migrating internal atoms cause self-depletion, eventually limiting sustained usage. Herein, cofactor regulation, a key issue long neglected in traditional mimetic enzyme construction is addressed.

Integrating a Copper-Histidine Brace in a Mimetic Nanozyme Streamlines the Tyrosinase Recognition Moiety to Achieve Chiral Differentiation.

Designing artificial mimetic enzymes with high activity/selectivity to replace chiral bioenzymes is of great interest in the development of chiral materials consisting of molecules, enantiomers, that exist in two forms as mirror images of one another but cannot be superimposed. In this study, the chiral catalytic structural unit was streamlined from tyrosinase to integrate a mimetic nanozyme. The chiral amino acid l-histidine, as the chiral binding/recognition site, and the active metal site Cu were coupled (Cu@l-His) to create a copper-histidine brace with enantioselective catalytic ability to tyrosinol enantiomers.

The Structure-Activity Relationship of Pterostilbene Against Candida albicans Biofilms.

biofilms contribute to invasive infections and dramatic drug resistance, and anti-biofilm agents are urgently needed in the clinic. Pterostilbene (PTE) is a natural plant product with potentials to be developed as an anti-biofilm agent. In this study, we evaluated the structure-activity relationship (SAR) of PTE analogues against biofilms.

CuI/1,10-phen/PEG promoted decarboxylation of 2,3-diarylacrylic acids: synthesis of stilbenes under neutral and microwave conditions with an in situ generated recyclable catalyst.

A series of trans- or cis-stilbenes have been synthesized in good to excellent yields via a functional group-dependent decarboxylation process from the corresponding 2,3-diaryl acrylic acids in a neutral CuI/1,10-phen/PEG-400 system under microwave conditions. The in situ generation of the recyclable catalytic complex, the use of environmentally benign solvent PEG-400, the operational simplicity, the short reaction times, as well as the functional group-dependent chemo- and stereo-selectivity have made the decarboxylation process a highly efficient and applicable protocol.