Encapsulation of a catalytic imidazolium salt into avidin: towards the development of a biohybrid catalyst active in ionic liquids.

Herein, we report the development of biohybrid catalysts that are capable of catalyzing the aldol reaction. The use of biotinylated imidazolium salts in combination with racemic or enantiomerically pure catalytic anions allowed us to study the adaptive and cooperative positioning of the anionic catalyst inside the protein. Supramolecular encapsulation of the biotinylated catalyst into avidin resulted in good selectivity for the aldol reaction performed in ionic liquid/water mixtures.

Catalytic anions embedded into avidin: importance of their chirality and the chiral environment on the stereocontrol of the aldol reaction.

Several catalytic anions bearing a pseudo-dipeptide scaffold, in combination with a biotinylated imidazolium cation, were prepared. The assembly of these salts with avidin resulted in the formation of stable biohybrid catalysts, active in ionic liquid/aqueous media for the aldol reaction. By using natural and non-natural amino alcohols as "side chains" for the proline derivative anion, we studied the cooperativity between the anion and its position in avidin. Taking advantage of the large freedom of movement of the anion inside avidin, we also investigated the substrate scope of this type of biohybrid catalyst.

Asymmetric aldol reaction catalyzed by the anion of an ionic liquid.

Herein we report the synthesis of a chiral imidazolium salt derived from trans-L-hydroxyproline and its applications as a catalyst for the asymmetric aldol reaction. By performing the aldol reaction in [Bmim]NTf(2) as a solvent, we report excellent isolated yields of the aldol product (up to 99%), as well as modest to excellent selectivities (dr superior to 99:1. ee up to 89%). Mechanistic insights and the origins of the selectivity of the aldol reaction are discussed on the basis of the results obtained with two catalytic imidazolium salts having different H-bonding potential.

Dual copper- and photoredox-catalysed C(sp2)-C(sp3) coupling.

The use of copper catalysis with visible light photoredox catalysis in a cooperative fashion has recently emerged as a versatile means of developing new C-C bond forming reactions. In this work, dual copper and photoredox catalysis is exploited to effect C(sp2)-C(sp3) cross-couplings between aryl boronic acids and benzyl bromides.

Investigation of Classical Organic and Ionic Liquid Cosolvents for Early-Stage Screening in Fragment-Based Inhibitor Design with Unrelated Bacterial and Human Dihydrofolate Reductases.

Drug design by methods such as fragment screening requires effective solubilization of millimolar concentrations of small organic compounds while maintaining the properties of the biological target. We investigate four organic solvents and three 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium (BMIm)-based ionic liquids (ILs) as cosolvents to establish conditions for screening two structurally unrelated dihydrofolate reductases (DHFRs) that are prime drug targets. Moderate concentrations (10%-15%) of cosolvents had little effect on inhibition of the microbial type II R67 DHFR and of human DHFR (hDHFR), while higher concentrations of organic cosolvents generally decreased activity of both DHFRs. In contrast, a specific IL conserved the activity of one DHFR, while severely reducing the activity of the other, and vice versa, illustrating the differing effect of ILs on distinct protein folds. Most of the cosolvents investigated preserved the fold of R67 DHFR and had little effect on binding of the cofactor NADPH, but reduced the productive affinity for its substrate. In contrast, cosolvents resulted in modest structural destabilization of hDHFR with little effect on productive affinity. We conclude that the organic cosolvents, methanol, dimethylformamide, and dimethylsulfoxide, offer the most balanced conditions for early-stage compound screening as they maintain sufficient biological activity of both DHFRs while allowing for compound dissolution in the millimolar range. However, IL cosolvents showed poor capacity to solubilize organic compounds at millimolar concentrations, mitigating their utility in early-stage screening. Nonetheless, ILs could provide an alternative to classical organic cosolvents when low concentrations of inhibitors are used, as when characterizing higher affinity inhibitors.

Dual gold photoredox C(sp(2))-C(sp(2)) cross couplings - development and mechanistic studies.

A dual visible light photoredox and gold-catalysed C(sp(2))-C(sp(2)) cross coupling is described. The success of this mild, oxidant- and base-free cross coupling is highly dependent on the amount of water added. Mechanistic studies show two distinct pathways depending on the gold catalyst employed: transmetallation of the arylboronic acid with gold(i) occurs prior to oxidation of gold(i) to gold(iii) using cationic gold(i) catalysts, whereas oxidation of gold(i) to gold(iii) precedes transmetallation using neutral gold(i) catalysts.