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Biologically inspired oxidation catalysis

Nature volume 455, pages 333–340 (2008)Cite this article

Abstract

The development of processes for selective hydrocarbon oxidation is a goal that has long been pursued. An additional challenge is to make such processes environmentally friendly, for example by using non-toxic reagents and energy-efficient catalytic methods. Excellent examples are naturally occurring iron- or copper-containing metalloenzymes, and extensive studies have revealed the key chemical principles that underlie their efficacy as catalysts for aerobic oxidations. Important inroads have been made in applying this knowledge to the development of synthetic catalysts that model enzyme function. Such biologically inspired hydrocarbon oxidation catalysts hold great promise for wide-ranging synthetic applications.

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Figure 1: Metallo-oxygenase mechanisms.
Figure 2: Metalloenzyme intermediates.
Figure 3: Galactose oxidase mechanism.
Figure 4: Ligands for modelling GAO.
Figure 5: Copper–TEMPO radical oxidation.
Figure 6: Proposed mechanism for alcohol oxidation.
Figure 7: Oxidations by dicopper complexes.
Figure 8: Ligands used for iron- and manganese-catalysed oxidations.
Figure 9: Mechanisms of oxidations by iron catalysts.
Figure 10: Illustrative selective oxidations by iron.

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Acknowledgements

Work on biologically inspired oxidation catalysis carried out in the laboratory of L.Q. is supported by the US Department of Energy, and support for copper oxidation chemistry in the laboratory of W.B.T. is provided by the National Institutes of Health.

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  1. Department of Chemistry and Center for Metals in Biocatalysis, University of Minnesota, 207 Pleasant Street SE, Minneapolis, 55455, Minnesota, USA

    Lawrence Que Jr & William B. Tolman

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Que, L., Tolman, W. Biologically inspired oxidation catalysis. Nature 455, 333–340 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature07371

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