Biomimetic Chiral Nanomaterials with Selective Catalysis Activity

Chiral nanomaterials with unique chiral configurations and biocompatible ligands have been booming over the past decade for their interesting chiroptical effect, unique catalytical activity, and related bioapplications. The catalytic activity and selectivity of chiral nanomaterials have emerged as important topics, that can be potentially controlled and optimized by the rational biochemical design of nanomaterials. In this review, chiral nanomaterials synthesis, composition, and catalytic performances of different biohybrid chiral nanomaterials are discussed. The construction of chiral nanomaterials with multiscale chiral geometries along with the underlying principles for enhancing chiroptical responses are highlighted. Various biochemical approaches to regulate the selectivity and catalytic activity of chiral nanomaterials for biocatalysis are also summarized. Furthermore, attention is paid to specific chiral ligands, materials compositions, structure characteristics, and so on for introducing selective catalytic activities of representative chiral nanomaterials, with emphasis on substrates including small molecules, biological macromolecule, and in-site catalysis in living systems. Promising progress has also been emphasized in chiral nanomaterials featuring structural versatility and improved chiral responses that gave rise to unprecedented chances to utilize light for biocatalytic applications. In summary, the challenges, future trends, and prospects associated with chiral nanomaterials for catalysis are comprehensively proposed.

Emerging potentials of Fe-based nanomaterials for chiral sensing and imaging

Fe-based nanostructures have possessed promising properties that make it suitable for chiral sensing and imaging applications owing to their ultra-small size, non-toxicity, biocompatibility, excellent photostability, tunable fluorescence, and water solubility. This review summarizes the recent research progress in the field of Fe-based nanostructures and places special emphases on their applications in chiral sensing and imaging. The synthetic strategies to prepare the targeted Fe-based structures were also introduced. The chiral sensing and imaging applications of the nanostructures are discussed in details.

Construction of an Asymmetric Porphyrinic Zirconium Metal-Organic Framework through Ionic Postchiral Modification

Herein, one kind of neutral chiral zirconium metal-organic framework (Zr-MOF) was reported from the porphyrinic MOF (PMOF) family with a metallolinker (Mn^III-porphyrin) as the achiral polytopic linker [free base tetrakis(4-carboxyphenyl)porphyrin] and chiral anions. Achiral Zr-MOF was chiralized through the exchange of primitive anions with new chiral organic anions (postsynthetic exchange). This chiral functional porphyrinic MOF (CPMOF) was characterized by several techniques such as powder X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, ¹H NMR, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller measurements. In the resulting structure, there are two active metal sites as Lewis acid centers (Zr and Mn) and chiral species as Brønsted acid sites along with their cooperation as nucleophiles. This CPMOF shows considerable bimodal porosity with high surface area and stability. Additionally, its ability was investigated in asymmetric catalyses of prochiral substrates. Interactions between framework chiral species and prochiral substrates have large impacts on the catalytic ability and chirality induction. This chiral catalyst proceeded asymmetric epoxidation and CO₂ fixation reactions at lower pressure with high enantioselectivity due to Lewis acids and chiral auxiliary nucleophiles without significant loss of activity up to the sixth step of consecutive cycles of reusability. Observations revealed that chiralization of Zr-MOF could happen by a succinct strategy that can be a convenient method to design chiral MOFs.

The role of metal–organic porous frameworks in dual catalysis

Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) are a valuable group of porous crystalline solids with inorganic and organic parts that can be used in dual catalysis.