Cardona, F.; Goti, A.; Messori, L.

ChemCatChem 2017, 9, 4225-4230, 10.1002/cctc.201701083

A new green method for the preparation of nitrones through the aerobic oxidation of the corresponding N,N‐disubstituted hydroxylamines has been developed upon exploring the catalytic activity of a diruthenium catalyst, that is, [Ru2(OAc)4Cl]), in aqueous or alcoholic solution under mild reaction conditions (0.1 to 1 mol % catalyst, air, 50 °C) and reasonable reaction times. Notably, the catalytic activity of the dimetallic centre is retained after its binding to the small protein lysozyme. Interestingly, this new artificial metalloenzyme conferred complete chemoselectivity to the oxidation of cyclic hydroxylamines, in contrast to the diruthenium catalyst.

Shahgaldian, P.; Ward, T.R.

Chem. Commun. 2016, 52, 9462-9465, 10.1039/c6cc04604e

Silica nanoparticles equipped with an artificial imine reductase display remarkable activity towards cyclic imine- and NAD+ reduction. The method, based on immobilization and protection of streptavidin on silica nanoparticles, shields the biotinylated metal cofactor against deactivation yielding over 46 000 turnovers in pure samples and 4000 turnovers in crude cellular extracts.