Secondary Amine Catalysis in Enzyme Design: Broadening Protein Template Diversity through Genetic Code Expansion

Secondary amines, due to their reactivity, can transform protein templates into catalytically active entities, accelerating the development of artificial enzymes. However, existing methods, predominantly reliant on modified ligands or N-terminal prolines, impose significant limitations on template selection. In this study, genetic code expansion was used to break this boundary, enabling secondary amines to be incorporated into alternative proteins and positions of choice. Pyrrolysine analogues carrying different secondary amines could be incorporated into superfolder green fluorescent protein (sfGFP), multidrug-binding LmrR and nucleotide-binding dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR). Notably, the analogue containing a D-proline moiety demonstrated both proteolytic stability and catalytic activity, conferring LmrR and DHFR with the desired transfer hydrogenation activity. While the LmrR variants were confined to the biomimetic 1-benzyl-1,4-dihydronicotinamide (BNAH) as the hydride source, the optimal DHFR variant favorably used the pro-R hydride from NADPH for stereoselective reactions (e.r. up to 92 : 8), highlighting that a switch of protein template could broaden the nucleophile option for catalysis. Owing to the cofactor compatibility, the DHFR-based secondary amine catalysis could be integrated into an enzymatic recycling scheme. This established method shows substantial potential in enzyme design, applicable from studies on enzyme evolution to the development of new biocatalysts.

Regulating Au coverage for the direct oxidation of methane to methanol

The direct oxidation of methane to methanol under mild conditions is challenging owing to its inadequate activity and low selectivity. A key objective is improving the selective oxidation of the first carbon-hydrogen bond of methane, while inhibiting the oxidation of the remaining carbon-hydrogen bonds to ensure high yield and selectivity of methanol. Here we design ultrathin PdxAuy nanosheets and revealed a volcano-type relationship between the binding strength of hydroxyl radical on the catalyst surface and catalytic performance using experimental and density functional theory results. Our investigations indicate a trade-off relationship between the reaction-triggering and reaction-conversion steps in the reaction process. The optimized Pd3Au1 nanosheets exhibits a methanol production rate of 147.8 millimoles per gram of Pd per hour, with a selectivity of 98% at 70 °C, representing one of the most efficient catalysts for the direct oxidation of methane to methanol.

Magnetite Nanoparticles Functionalized with Thermoresponsive Polymers as a Palladium Support for Olefin and Nitroarene Hydrogenation

A thermoresponsive and recyclable nanomaterial was synthesized by surface modification of magnetite nanoparticles (MNPs) with poly(N-isopropylacrylamide-co-diethylaminoethyl methacrylate) (P(NIPAAm-co-DEAEMA)), having PNIPAAm as a thermoresponsive moiety and PDEAEMA for catalyst binding. Palladium (Pd) nanoparticles were incorporated into this material, and the resulting nanocatalyst was efficient in the hydrogenation of olefins and nitro compounds with turnover frequencies (TOFs) up to 750 h^-1. Consistent catalytic activity in 10 consecutive runs was observed when performing the hydrogenation at 45 °C, i.e., above the lower critical solution temperature (LCST) of the copolymer (37 °C), followed by cooling to 15 °C, i.e., below the LCST of the copolymer.

Impact of the Experimental Parameters on Catalytic Activity When Preparing Polymer Protected Bimetallic Nanoparticle Catalysts on Activated Carbon

Sol immobilization is used to produce bimetallic catalysts with higher activity to monometallic counterparts for a wide range of environmental and commercial catalytic transformations. Analysis of complementary surface characterization (XPS, Boehm's titration, and zeta potential measurements) was used to elucidate alterations in the surface functionality of two activated carbon supports during acid exposure. When considered in parallel to the experimentally determined electrostatic and conformational changes of the polymer surrounding the nanoparticles, an electrostatic model is proposed describing polymer protected nanoparticle deposition with several polymer-carbon support examples described. Consideration of the electrostatic interactions ensures full deposition of the polymer protected nanoparticles and at the same time influences the structure of the bimetallic nanoparticle immobilized on the support. The normalized activity of AuPd catalysts prepared with 133 ppm H₂SO₄ has a much higher activity for the direct synthesis of hydrogen peroxide compared to catalysts prepared in the absence of acid. Detailed characterization by XPS indicates that the surface becomes enriched in Au in the Au-Pd samples prepared with acid, suggesting an improved dispersion of smaller bimetallic nanoparticles, rich in Au, that are known to be highly active for the direct synthesis reaction. Subsequent microscopy measurements confirmed this hypothesis, with the acid addition catalysts having a mean particle size ∼2 nm smaller than the zero acid counterparts. The addition of acid did not result in a morphology change, and random alloyed bimetallic AuPd nanoparticles were observed in catalysts prepared by sol immobilization in the presence and absence of acid. This work shows that the deposition of polymer protected AuPd nanoparticles onto activated carbon is heavily influenced by the acid addition step in the sol immobilization process. The physicochemical properties of both the polymer and the activated carbon support should be considered when designing a bimetallic nanoparticle catalyst by sol immobilization to ensure the optimum performance of the final catalyst.

Recent Progress in Pd-Based Nanocatalysts for Selective Hydrogenation

Selective hydrogenation plays an important role in the chemical industry and has a wide range of applications, including the production of fine chemicals and petrochemicals, pharmaceutical synthesis, healthcare product development, and the synthesis of agrochemicals. Pd-based catalysts have been widely applied for selective hydrogenation due to their unique electronic structure and ability to adsorb and activate hydrogen and unsaturated substrates. However, the exclusive and comprehensive summarization of the size, composition, and surface and interface effect of metal Pd on the performance for selective hydrogenation is still lacking. In this perspective, the research progress on selective hydrogenation using Pd-based catalysts is summarized. The strategies for improving the catalytic hydrogenation performance over Pd-based catalysts are investigated. Specifically, the effects of the size, composition, and surface and interfacial structure of Pd-based catalysts, which could influence the dissociation mode of hydrogen, the adsorption, and the reaction mode of the catalytic substrate, on the performance have been systemically reviewed. Then, the progress on Pd-based catalysts for selective hydrogenation of unsaturated alkynes, aldehydes, ketones, and nitroaromatic hydrocarbons is revealed based on the fundamental principles of selective hydrogenation. Finally, perspectives on the further development of strategies for chemical selective hydrogenation are provided. It is hoped that this perspective would provide an instructive guideline for constructing efficient heterogeneous Pd-based catalysts for various selective hydrogenation reactions.

Active and Recyclable Gold Metal Nanoparticles Catalyst Supported on Nitrogen-Doped Mesoporous Carbon for Chemoselective Hydrogenation of Cinnamaldehyde to Cinnamyl Alcohol

Several supported gold metal catalysts with different Au nanoparticles sizes were prepared and evaluated for the chemoselective hydrogenation of cinnamaldehyde (CA) to cinnamyl alcohol (CAL). To investigate the structure-activity relationship, stability of catalyst, heterogeneity and recyclability, the structural characteristics of materials and Au catalysts (fresh and spent catalysts) were studied by employing variety of physico-chemical techniques. The interrelationship among Au nanoparticles size (nm) with turnover frequency (h^-1 ) of Au catalysts has also been explored. Among the various Au catalysts tested, nitrogen-doped mesoporous carbon (NMC) supported Au catalyst having homogeneously dispersed (78.8%) Au nanoparticles (1.6 nm) synthesized by sol-immobilization method (Au-NMC-SI) demonstrated improved catalytic activity affording 78% CAL selectivity and 94.2% CA conversion without using any promoter. Moreover, Au-NMC-SI catalyst exhibited good recyclability and stability. The catalyst synthesis approach described in this investigation opens up a novel strategy for the design of highly efficient metal nano-catalysts supported on NMC materials.

Catalytic Oxidation of Benzyl Alcohol to Benzaldehyde on Au8 and Au6Pd2 Clusters: A DFT Study on the Reaction Mechanism

Density functional theory calculations were performed to investigate the reaction mechanism of the aerobic oxidation of benzyl alcohol to benzaldehyde catalyzed by Au and Au–Pd clusters. Two consecutive reaction mechanisms were examined with Au8 and Au6Pd2 clusters: (1) the oxidation of benzyl alcohol with dissociated O atoms on metal clusters generating benzaldehyde and H2O; and (2) oxidation with adsorbed oxygen molecules generating benzaldehyde and H2O2. The calculations show that the aerobic oxidation of benzyl alcohol energetically prefers to proceed in the former mechanism, which agrees with the experimental observation. We demonstrate that the role of Au centers around the activation of molecular oxygen to peroxide-like species, which are capable of the H–abstraction of benzyl alcohol. The roles of Pd in the Au6Pd2 cluster are: (1) increasing the electron distribution to neighboring Au atoms, which facilitates the activation of O2; and (2) stabilizing the adsorption complex and transition states by the interaction between positively charged Pd atoms and the π-bond of benzyl alcohol, both of which are the origin of the lower energy barriers than those of Au8.

Optimization of sol-immobilized bimetallic Au-Pd/TiO2 catalysts: reduction of 4-nitrophenol to 4-aminophenol for wastewater remediation

A sol-immobilization method is used to synthesize a series of highly active and stable Au_xPd_1-x/TiO₂ catalysts (where x = 0, 0.13, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, 0.87 and 1) for wastewater remediation. The catalytic performance of the materials was evaluated for the catalytic reduction of 4-nitrophenol, a model wastewater contaminant, using NaBH₄ as the reducing agent under mild reaction conditions. Reaction parameters such as substrate/metal and substrate/reducing agent molar ratios, reaction temperature and stirring rate were investigated. Structure-activity correlations were studied using a number of complementary techniques including X-ray powder diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The sol-immobilization route provides very small Au-Pd alloyed nanoparticles, with the highest catalytic performance shown by the Au_0.5Pd_0.5/TiO₂ catalyst. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'Science to enable the circular economy'.

Facile preparation of porous palladium nanocubes via a one-pot process induced by 1-hexadecyl-3-methyl imidazolium bromide for methanol electro-oxidation

Pd porous nanocubes were synthesized by a one-pot method assisted by HMIB and exhibited higher activity than solid nanocubes and Pd/C.

Facile hydrogenation of cinnamaldehyde to cinnamyl ether by employing a highly re-usable “dip-catalyst” containing Pt nanoparticles on a green support

We report the fabrication of a ‘dip-catalyst’ based on Pt nanoparticles on jute stalks as a green support and its catalytic application in cinnamyl alkyl ether synthesis.

Selective hydrogenation of 2-pentenal using highly dispersed Pt catalysts supported on ZnSnAl mixed metal oxides derived from layered double hydroxides

Highly dispersed Pt catalysts supported on ZnSnAl mixed metal oxides showed high selectivity for 2-pentenol in selective hydrogenation of 2-pentenal.

The Effect of Carbon Nanofibers Surface Properties in Hydrogenation and Dehydrogenation Reactions

In this study, carbon nanofiber-supported Pd nanoparticles were used in the hydrogenation of cinnamaldehyde and in the dehydrogenation of cinnamyl alcohol. The different graphitisation of the surface of the nanofibers and the amount of oxygen functionalisation significantly affected both activity and selectivity to the various reaction products. In particular, a decrease in nanoparticle dimensions and oxygen content resulted in an increase in overall activity for both of the studied reactions. Moreover, the selectivity to hydrocinnamaldehyde enhanced with increasing surface oxygen content in the cinnamaldehyde hydrogenation, while the selectivity to cinnamaldehyde was higher with low-functionalised nanofibers in the cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenation. Finally, the most active catalyst proved also to be stable in consecutive runs.

Zr-Modified ZnO for the Selective Oxidation of Cinnamaldehyde to Benzaldehyde

ZnO and Zr-modified ZnO were prepared using a precipitation method and used for the selective oxidation of cinnamaldehyde to benzaldehyde in the present study. The results showed that physicochemical properties of ZnO were significantly affected by the calcination temperature, and calcination of ZnO at 400 °C demonstrated the optimum catalytic activity for the selective oxidation of cinnamaldehyde to benzaldehyde. With 0.01 g ZnO calcined at 400 °C for 2 h as a catalyst, 8.0 g ethanol and 2.0 g cinnamaldehyde reacted at an oxygen pressure of 1.0 MPa and 70 °C for 60 min, resulting in benzaldehyde selectivity of 69.2% and cinnamaldehyde conversion of 16.1%. Zr was the optimal modifier for ZnO: when Zr-modified ZnO was used as the catalyst, benzaldehyde selectivity reached 86.2%, and cinnamaldehyde conversion was 17.6%. The X-ray diffractometer and N2 adsorption–desorption characterization indicated that doping with Zr could reduce the crystallite size of ZnO (101) and increase the specific surface area of the catalyst, which provided more active sites for the reaction. X-ray photoelectron spectrometer results showed that Zr-doping could exchange the electrons with ZnO and reduce the electron density in the outer layer of Zn, which would further affect benzaldehyde selectivity. The results of CO2 temperature-programmed desorption showed that Zr-modification enhanced the alkalinity of the catalyst surface, which caused the Zr–ZnO catalyst to exhibit higher catalytic activity.

Synthesis of highly uniform and composition-controlled gold-palladium supported nanoparticles in continuous flow

The synthesis of supported bimetallic nanoparticles with well-defined size and compositional parameters has long been a challenge. Although batch colloidal methods are commonly used to pre-form metal nanoparticles with the desired size-range in solution, inhomogeneous mixing of the reactant solutions often leads to variations in size, structure and composition from batch-to-batch and even particle-to-particle. Here we describe a millifluidic approach for the production of oxide supported monometallic Au and bimetallic AuPd nanoparticles in a continuous fashion. This optimised method enables the production of nanoparticles with smaller mean sizes, tighter particle size distributions and a more uniform particle-to-particle chemical composition as compared to the conventional batch procedure. In addition, we describe a facile procedure to prepare bimetallic Au@Pd core-shell nanoparticles in continuous flow starting from solutions of the metal precursors. Moreover, the relative ease of scalability of this technique makes the proposed methodology appealing not only for small-scale laboratory purposes, but also for the industrial-scale production of supported metal nanoparticles.

Transient Operation: A Catalytic Chemoselective Hydrogenation of 2-Methyl-3-Butyn-2-ol via a Cooperative Pd and Radiofrequency Heating Directed Kinetic Resolution

The effect of periodic temperature oscillations has been studied for the hydrogenation of 2-methyl-3-butyn-2-ol over a Pd-based catalyst in a micro-trickle bed reactor. This hydrogenation was investigated using a radiofrequency heated reactor under transient conditions using temperature cycling. The dynamic operation using this configuration was found to increase both conversion and selectivity towards 2-methyl-3-buten-2-ol compared to the steady-state operation with an improvement of up to 24% for the selectivity being observed. The developments made here also result in a lower activation energy in comparison to previous data, providing a starting point for radiofrequency heating to enhance reaction rate through the exploitation of thermal cycling at production scale.