Enzymes are well known for their substrate-tailored active sites with optimized molecular recognition and catalytic features. Although many different platforms have been used to construct enzyme mimics, a difficult challenge is in the construction of substrate-selective active sites with precisely positioned catalytic groups. In this work, artificial acetal hydrolases were prepared through molecular imprinting within cross-linked micelles. Their catalytic activity and selectivity were tuned through rational modification of the active site’s microenvironment, allowing less reactive acetals to be hydrolyzed in the presence of more reactive ones. These properties enabled the artificial enzymes to produce the desired product from a multi-component acetal mixture in a tandem reaction.

Artificial nanoparticle acetal hydrolase for selective tandem reaction from mixtures

ACS Spring Meeting 2021

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.