The design of artificial catalysts able to compete with the catalytic proficiency of enzymes is an intense subject of research. Non-covalent interactions are thought to be involved in several properties of enzymatic catalysis, notably (i) the confinement of the substrates and the active site within a catalytic pocket, (ii) the creation of a hydrophobic pocket in water, (iii) self-replication properties and (iv) allosteric properties. The origins of the enhanced rates and high catalytic selectivities associated with these properties are still a matter of debate. Stabilisation of the transition state and favourable conformations of the active site and the product(s) are probably part of the answer. We present here artificial catalysts and biomacromolecule hybrid catalysts which constitute good models towards the development of truly competitive artificial enzymes.

/pdf/supramolecular-catalysis-part-2-artificial-enzyme-mimics-2h1esy0td8.pdf

Supramolecular catalysis. Part 2: artificial enzyme mimics

Metalloproteins catalyse some of the most complex and important processes in nature, such as photosynthesis and water oxidation An ultimate test of our knowledge of how metalloproteins work is to design new metalloproteins Doing so not only can reveal hidden structural features that may be missing from studies of native metalloproteins and their variants, but also can result in new metalloenzymes for biotechnological and pharmaceutical applications Although it is much more challenging to design metalloproteins than non-metalloproteins, much progress has been made in this area, particularly in functional design, owing to recent advances in areas such as computational and structural biology

Design of functional metalloproteins

The incorporation of a synthetic, catalytically competent metallocofactor into a protein scaffold to generate an artificial metalloenzyme (ArM) has been explored since the late 1970’s. Progress in the ensuing years was limited by the tools available for both organometallic synthesis and protein engineering. Advances in both of these areas, combined with increased appreciation of the potential benefits of combining attractive features of both homogeneous catalysis and enzymatic catalysis, led to a resurgence of interest in ArMs starting in the early 2000’s. Perhaps the most intriguing of potential ArM properties is their ability to endow homogeneous catalysts with a genetic memory. Indeed, incorporating a homogeneous catalyst into a genetically encoded scaffold offers the opportunity to improve ArM performance by directed evolution. This capability could, in turn, lead to improvements in ArM efficiency similar to those obtained for natural enzymes, providing systems suitable for practical applications and ...

/pdf/artificial-metalloenzymes-reaction-scope-and-optimization-2fb45ld2i6.pdf

Artificial Metalloenzymes: Reaction Scope and Optimization Strategies.

Sensing of metal ions and anions is of great importance because of their widespread distribution in environmental systems and biological processes. Colorimetric and fluorescent chemosensors based on organic molecular species have been demonstrated to be effective for the detection of various ions and possess the significant advantages of low cost, high sensitivity, and convenient implementation. Of the available classes of organic molecules, porphyrin analogues possess inherently many advantageous features, making them suitable for the design of ion chemosensors, with the targeted sensing behavior achieved and easily modulated based on their following characteristics: (1) NH moieties properly disposed for binding of anions through cooperative hydrogen-bonding interactions; (2) multiple pyrrolic N atoms or other heteroatoms for selectively chelating metal ions; (3) variability of macrocycle size and peripheral substitution for modulation of ion selectivity and sensitivity; and (4) tunable near-infrared emission and good biocompatibility. In this Review, design strategies, sensing mechanisms, and sensing performance of ion chemosensors based on porphyrin analogues are described by use of extensive examples. Ion chemosensors based on normal porphyrins and linear oligopyrroles are also briefly described. This Review provides valuable information for researchers of related areas and thus may inspire the development of more practical and effective approaches for designing high-performance ion chemosensors based on porphyrin analogues and other relevant compounds.

Development of Ion Chemosensors Based on Porphyrin Analogues

1.2.2. Davis Oxaziridines 4305 1.2.3. Metal Complexes in Enantioselective Oxidation 4305 1.3. New Applications 4307 1.3.1. Chiral Sulfinate Method 4307 1.3.2. Oxidation with Chiral Oxaziridines 4309 1.3.3. Oxidation Using Metal Complexes 4310 1.4. New Systems 4313 1.4.1. C-S Bond Formation 4314 1.4.2. Organic Oxidants 4315 1.4.3. Oxidations Catalyzed by Metal Complexes 4316 1.5. Diastereoselective Oxidations 4330 1.6. Heterogenized Systems 4332 1.7. Summary 4335 2. Biological Oxidations 4336 2.

Enantioselective synthesis of sulfoxides: 2000-2009.

Myoglobin will be a good scaffold for engineering a function into proteins. To modulate the physiological function of myoglobin, almost all approaches have been demonstrated by site-directed mutagenesis, however, there are few studies which show a significant improvement in the function. In contrast, we focused on the replacement of heme in the protein with an artificial prosthetic group. Recently, we prepared a novel myoglobin reconstituted with an iron porphycene as a structural isomer of mesoheme. The bluish colored reconstituted myoglobin is relatively stable and the deoxymyoglobin reversibly binds ligands. Interestingly, the O2 affinity of the reconstituted myoglobin, 1.1 × 109 M-1, is a significant 1,400-fold higher than that of the native myoglobin. Furthermore, the unfavorable autoxidation kinetics show 7-fold decrease in rate for the reconstituted myoglobin relative to the native myoglobin, indicating the stable oxy-form against autoxidation. The net results come from the slow dissociation of the...

Blue myoglobin reconstituted with an iron porphycene shows extremely high oxygen affinity

Sperm whale myoglobin, an oxygen storage hemoprotein, was successfully reconstituted with the iron porphycene having two propionates, 2,7-diethyl-3,6,12,17-tetramethyl-13,16-bis(carboxyethyl)porphycenatoiron. The physicochemical properties and ligand bindings of the reconstituted myoglobin were investigated. The ferric reconstituted myoglobin shows the remarkable stability against acid denaturation and only a low-spin characteristic in its EPR spectrum. The Fe(III)/Fe(II) redox potential (−190 mV vs NHE) determined by the spectroelectrochemical measurements was much lower than that of the wild-type. These results can be attributed to the strong coordination of His93 to the porphycene iron, which is induced by the nature of the porphycene ring symmetry. The O2 affinity of the ferrous reconstituted myoglobin is 2600-fold higher than that of the wild-type, mainly due to the decrease in the O2 dissociation rate, whereas the CO affinity is not so significantly enhanced. As a result, the O2 affinity of the reco...

Ligand binding properties of myoglobin reconstituted with iron porphycene: unusual O2 binding selectivity against CO binding.

The incorporation of an artificially created metal complex into an apomyoglobin is one of the attractive methods in a series of hemoprotein modifications. Single crystals of sperm whale myoglobin reconstituted with 13,16-dicarboxyethyl-2,7-diethyl-3,6,12,17-tetramethylporphycenatoiron(III) were obtained in the imidazole buffer, and the 3D structure with a 2.25-A resolution indicates that the iron porphycene, a structural isomer of hemin, is located in the normal position of the heme pocket. Furthermore, it was found that the reconstituted myoglobin catalyzed the H2O2-dependent oxidations of substrates such as guaiacol, thioanisole, and styrene. At pH 7.0 and 20 °C, the initial rate of the guaiacol oxidation is 11-fold faster than that observed for the native myoglobin. Moreover, the stopped-flow analysis of the reaction of the reconstituted protein with H2O2 suggested the formation of two reaction intermediates, compounds II- and III-like species, in the absence of a substrate. It is a rare example that c...

Crystal structure and peroxidase activity of myoglobin reconstituted with iron porphycene.

The iron porphycene with two propionates at the peripheral positions of the framework was incorporated into the heme pocket of horseradish peroxidase. In the presence of hydrogen peroxide, the ferric iron porphycene was smoothly converted into the iron(IV)-oxo porphycene π-cation radical species, which was confirmed by the appearance of a band around 800 nm in the UV−vis spectrum. The protein with the iron porphycene showed a 10-fold higher reactivity for the thioanisole oxidation when compared to the native protein. In contrast, the guaiacol oxidation proceeded with similar reaction rates in both proteins. The kinetic analyses indicated that the ferric porphycene in the protein more slowly reacts with hydrogen peroxide than the native heme, whereas the high oxidation states show higher reactivities during oxidations of an organic substrate. The formation of the iron(IV)-oxo species of porphycene and its reactivities in the hemoprotein matrix are demonstrated.

Porphyrinoid chemistry in hemoprotein matrix: detection and reactivities of iron(IV)-oxo species of porphycene incorporated into horseradish peroxidase.

Dai Murata

Papers

Blue myoglobin reconstituted with an iron porphycene shows extremely high oxygen affinity

Ligand binding properties of myoglobin reconstituted with iron porphycene: unusual O2 binding selectivity against CO binding.

Crystal structure and peroxidase activity of myoglobin reconstituted with iron porphycene.

Porphyrinoid chemistry in hemoprotein matrix: detection and reactivities of iron(IV)-oxo species of porphycene incorporated into horseradish peroxidase.