Conversion of methane to methanol has proven to be a difficult process for synthetic chemists to reproduce at larger scales due to this oxidation reaction’s low selectivity and yield. Methanotrophic bacteria, on the other hand, have been able to perform this transformation with relative ease and with good yield using soluble methane monooxygenase (sMMO). sMMO active site models have been synthesized previously, but only oxidation of weak C-H bonds was achieved. We have reproduced the synthesis of a diiron sMMO active site mimic from the literature. Modification of the ligand framework with olefinic groups has provided a way to covalently bind synthetic organic polymers designed to recreate the steric environment of the true sMMO active site. Purification and characterization of the modified diiron species is ongoing.  The polymer portion is designed as a diblock polymer that will self-assemble to form a hydrophilic corona and a hydrophobic core and is synthesized with controlled radical polymerization methods. This hybrid inorganic small molecule-polymer system is being tested as an oxidation catalyst starting with cyclohexane, adamantane, and 4-tert-butyl pyrocatechol and compared directly to its small molecule analogue.

Enzyme-like catalysis: Encasing a soluble methane monooxygenase model in a polymer scaffold for improved catalysis

2019 Spring National Meeting

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