Okuda, J.

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2016, 12, 1314-1321, 10.3762/bjoc.12.124

Copper(I) and copper(II) complexes were covalently linked to an engineered variant of the transmembrane protein Ferric hydroxamate uptake protein component A (FhuA ΔCVFtev). Copper(I) was incorporated using an N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) ligand equipped with a maleimide group on the side arm at the imidazole nitrogen. Copper(II) was attached by coordination to a terpyridyl ligand. The spacer length was varied in the back of the ligand framework. These biohybrid catalysts were shown to be active in the Diels–Alder reaction of a chalcone derivative with cyclopentadiene to preferentially give the endo product.

Onoda, A.

J. Inorg. Biochem. 2016, 158, 55-61, 10.1016/j.jinorgbio.2015.12.026

A hybrid biocatalyst containing a metal terpyridine (tpy) complex within a rigid β-barrel protein nitrobindin (NB) is constructed. A tpy ligand with a maleimide group, N-[2-([2,2′:6′,2′′-terpyridin]-4′-yloxy)ethyl]maleimide (1), was covalently linked to Cys96 inside the cavity of NB to prepare a conjugate NB–1. Binding of Cu2 +, Zn2 +, or Co2 + ion to the tpy ligand in NB–1 was confirmed by UV–vis spectroscopy and ESI–TOF MS measurements. Cu2 +-bound NB–1 is found to catalyze a Diels–Alder reaction between azachalcone and cyclopentadiene in 22% yield, which is higher than that of the Cu2 +–tpy complex without the NB matrix. The results suggest that the hydrophobic cavity close to the copper active site within the NB scaffold supports the binding of the two substrates, dienophile and diene, to promote the reaction.