In Vivo Olefin Metathesis in Microalgae Upgrades Lipids to Building Blocks for Polymers and Chemicals

Grubbs-Hoveyda catalysts conjugated to a β-barrel protein: Effect of halide substitution on aqueous olefin metathesis activity

The effect of halide substitution in Grubbs-Hoveyda II catalysts (GHII catalysts) embedded in the engineered β-barrel protein nitrobindin (NB4exp) on metathesis activity in aqueous media was studied. Maleimide tagged dibromido and diiodido derivates of the GHII catalyst were synthesized and covalently conjugated to NB4exp. The biohybrid catalysts were characterized spectroscopically confirming the structural integrity. When the two chloride substituents at ruthenium center were exchanged against bromide and iodide, the diiodo derivative was found to show significantly higher catalytic activity in ring-closing metathesis of α,ω-diolefins, whereas the dibromido derivative was less efficient when compared with the parent dichlorido catalyst. Using the diiodido catalyst, high turnover numbers of up to 75 were observed for ring-closing metathesis (RCM) yielding unsaturated six- and seven-membered N-heterocycles.

Anionic Olefin Metathesis Catalysts Enable Modification of Unprotected Biomolecules in Water

Stability problems have limited the uptake of cationic olefin metathesis catalysts in chemical biology. Described herein are anionic catalysts that improve water-solubility, robustness, and compatibility with biomolecules such as DNA. A sulfonate tag is installed on the cyclic (alkyl)(amino) carbene (CAAC) ligand platform, chosen for resistance to degradation by nucleophiles, base, water, and β-elimination. Hoveyda-Grubbs catalysts bearing the sulfonated CAAC ligands deliver record productivity in metathesis of unprotected carbohydrates and nucleosides at neutral pH. Decomposed catalyst has negligible impact on metathesis selectivity, whereas N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) catalysts degrade rapidly in water and cause extensive C=C migration.

Printing Green: Microalgae-Based Materials for 3D Printing with Light

Microalgae have emerged as sustainable feedstocks due to their ability to fix CO2 during cultivation, rapid growth rates, and capability to produce a wide variety of metabolites. Several microalgae accumulate lipids in high concentrations, especially triglycerides, along with lipid-soluble, photoactive pigments such as chlorophylls and derivatives. Microalgae-derived triglycerides contain longer fatty acid chains with more double bonds on average than vegetable oils, allowing a higher degree of post-functionalization. Consequently, they are especially suitable as precursors for materials that can be used in 3D printing with light. This work presents the use of microalgae as "biofactories" to generate materials that can be further 3D printed in high resolution. Two taxonomically different strains -Odontella aurita (O. aurita, BEA0921B) and Tetraselmis striata (T. striata, BEA1102B)- are identified as suitable microalgae for this purpose. The extracts obtained from the microalgae (mainly triglycerides with chlorophyll derivatives) are functionalized with photopolymerizable groups and used directly as printable materials (inks) without the need for additional photoinitiators. The fabrication of complex 3D microstructures with sub-micron resolution is demonstrated. Notably, the 3D printed materials show biocompatibility. These findings open new possibilities for the next generation of sustainable, biobased, and biocompatible materials with great potential in life science applications.

Space-Efficient 3D Microalgae Farming with Optimized Resource Utilization for Regenerative Food

Photosynthetic microalgae produce valuable metabolites and are a source of sustainable food that supports life without compromising arable land. However, the light self-shading, excessive water supply, and insufficient space utilization in microalgae farming have limited its potential in the inland areas most in need of regenerative food solutions. Herein, this work develops a 3D polysaccharide-based hydrogel scaffold for vertically farming microalgae without needing liquid media. This liquid-free strategy is compatible with diverse microalgal species and enables the design of living microalgal frameworks with customizable architectures that enhance light and water utilization. This approach significantly increases microalgae yield per unit water consumption, with an 8.8-fold increase compared to traditional methods. Furthermore, the dehydrated hydrogels demonstrate a reduced size and weight (≈70% reduction), but readily recover their vitality upon rehydration. Importantly, valuable natural products can be produced in this system including proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, and carotenoids. This study streamlines microalgae regenerative farming for low-carbon biomanufacturing by minimizing light self-shading, relieving water supply, and reducing physical footprints, and democratizing access to efficient aquatic food production.

Catalytic olefin metathesis in blood

The direct synthesis of drugs in vivo enables drugs to treat diseases without causing side effects in healthy tissues. Transition-metal reactions have been widely explored for uncaging and synthesizing bioactive drugs in biological environments because of their remarkable reactivity. Nonetheless, it is difficult to develop a promising method to achieve in vivo drug synthesis because blood cells and metabolites deactivate transition-metal catalysts. We report that a robust albumin-based artificial metalloenzyme (ArM) with a low loading (1-5 mol%) can promote Ru-based olefin metathesis to synthesize molecular scaffolds and an antitumor drug in blood. The ArM retained its activity after soaking in blood for 24 h and provided the first example of catalytic olefin cross metathesis in blood. Furthermore, the cyclic-Arg-Gly-Asp (cRGD) peptide-functionalized ArM at lower dosages could still efficiently perform in vivo drug synthesis to inhibit the growth of implanted tumors in mice. Such a system can potentially construct therapeutic drugs in vivo for therapies without side effects.

Lewis acid-driven self-assembly of diiridium macrocyclic catalysts imparts substrate selectivity and glutathione tolerance

Molecular inorganic catalysts (MICs) tend to have solvent-exposed metal centers that lack substrate specificity and are easily inhibited by biological nucleophiles. Unfortunately, these limitations exclude many MICs from being considered for in vivo applications. To overcome this challenge, a strategy to spatially confine MICs using Lewis acid-driven self-assembly is presented. It was shown that in the presence of external cations (e.g., Li+, Na+, K+, or Cs+) or phosphate buffered saline, diiridium macrocycles spontaneously formed supramolecular iridium-cation species, which were characterized by X-ray crystallography and dynamic light scattering. These nanoassemblies selectively reduced sterically unhindered C[double bond, length as m-dash]O groups via transfer hydrogenation and tolerated up to 1 mM of glutathione. In contrast, when non-coordinating tetraalkylammonium cations were used, the diiridium catalysts were unable to form higher-ordered structures and discriminate between different aldehyde substrates. This work suggests that in situ coordination self-assembly could be a versatile approach to enable or enhance the integration of MICs with biological hosts.

Orientation-controlled membrane anchoring of bioorthogonal catalysts on live cells via liposome fusion-based transport

An obstacle to conducting diverse bioorthogonal reactions in living systems is the sensitivity of artificial metal catalysts. It has been reported that artificial metallocatalysts can be assembled in "cleaner" environments in cells for stabilized performance, which is powerful but is limited by the prerequisite of using specific cells. We report here a strategy to establish membrane-anchored catalysts with precise spatial control via liposome fusion-based transport (MAC-LiFT), loading bioorthogonal catalytic complexes onto either or both sides of the membrane leaflets. We show that the inner face of the cytoplasmic membrane serves as a reliable shelter for metal centers, protecting the complexes from deactivation thus substantially lowering the amount of catalyst needed for effective intracellular catalysis. This MAC-LiFT approach makes it possible to establish catalyst-protective systems with exclusively exogenous agents in a wide array of mammalian cells, allowing convenient and wider use of diverse bioorthogonal reactions in live cellular systems.

A Membrane-Embedded Macromolecular Catalyst with Substrate Selectivity in Live Cells

Substrate selectivity is one of the most attractive features of natural enzymes from their "bind-to-catalyze" working flow and is thus a goal for the development of synthetic enzyme mimics that mediate abiotic transformations. However, despite the recent success in the preparation of substrate-selective enzyme mimics based on single-chain nanoparticles, examples extending such selectivity into living systems have been absent. In this article, we report the in cellulo substrate selectivity of an enzyme-mimicking macromolecular catalyst based on a cationic dense-shell nanoparticle (DSNP) scaffold. With a systematic study on DSNP's structure-activity relationship, we demonstrate that the DSNP has excellent membrane affinity that is governed by several contributing factors, namely, charge density, type of charge, and particle size, and the best-performing phosphonium-rich DSNP can be used as a membrane-embedded catalyst (MEC) for efficient on-membrane synthesis. Importantly, the DSNP catalyst retains its selectivity toward lipophilic and anionic substrates when working as an MEC for on-membrane ligation. The usefulness of such substrate selectivity and on-membrane catalysis strategy was exemplified with several molecules of interest with low cell permeability and anionic nature, which were successfully transported into eukaryotic cells by after their formation directly on the cell membrane.

Water-Accelerated Decomposition of Olefin Metathesis Catalysts

Water is ubiquitous in olefin metathesis, at levels ranging from contaminant to cosolvent. It is also non-benign. Water-promoted catalyst decomposition competes with metathesis, even for "robust" ruthenium catalysts. Metathesis is hence typically noncatalytic for demanding reactions in water-rich environments (e.g., chemical biology), a challenge as the Ru decomposition products promote unwanted reactions such as DNA degradation. To date, only the first step of the decomposition cascade is understood: catalyst aquation. Here we demonstrate that the aqua species dramatically accelerate both β-elimination of the metallacyclobutane intermediate and bimolecular decomposition of four-coordinate [RuCl(H₂O)_n(L)(=CHR)]Cl. Decomposition can be inhibited by blocking aquation and β-elimination.

In Vivo Olefin Metathesis in Microalgae Upgrades Lipids to Building Blocks for Polymers and Chemicals

Sustainable sources are key to future chemicals production. Microalgae are promising resources as they fixate carbon dioxide to organic molecules by photosynthesis. Thereby they produce unsaturated fatty acids as established raw materials for the industrial production of chemical building blocks. Although these renewable feedstocks are generated inside cells, their catalytic upgrading to useful products requires in vitro transformations. A synthetic catalysis inside photoautotrophic cells has remained elusive. Here we show that a catalytic conversion of renewable substrates can be realized directly inside living microalgae. Organometallic catalysts remain active inside the cells, enabling in vivo catalytic olefin metathesis as new-to-nature transformation. Stored lipids are converted to long-chain dicarboxylates as valuable building blocks for polymers. This is a key step towards the long-term goal of producing desired renewable chemicals in microalgae as living "cellular factories".