Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Volume 5 Issue 2, February 2022

Funnelling bio-aromatics

Biocatalytic conversion of aromatic compounds is an exciting topic of importance for the funnelling of lignin-derived aromatic compounds to target products. In their Review, Gregg Beckham, Lindsay Eltis and colleagues discuss the critical reactions of aromatic O-demethylation, hydroxylation and decarboxylation.

See Erickson et al.

Image credit: Rita Clare, Scivetica. Cover design: Marina Spence.

Comment & Opinion

  • The discovery of robust and efficient water oxidation catalysts based on first-row transition metal complexes is still a challenge. Here, we describe the underlying chemistry related to the deactivation pathways of first-row transition metal complexes and put forward a series of principles and basic checks to enable the development of robust catalysts.

    • Marcos Gil-Sepulcre
    • Antoni Llobet

    Collection:

    Comment

    Advertisement

Top of page ⤴

Research Highlights

Top of page ⤴

News & Views

Top of page ⤴

Reviews

  • For microbial industrial lignin conversion, a key challenge is to overcome rate-limiting steps in the upper pathways of aromatic catabolism. This Review discusses the critical enzymatic reactions of aromatic O-demethylation, decarboxylation and hydroxylation for lignin valorization via biological funnelling.

    • Erika Erickson
    • Alissa Bleem
    • Gregg T. Beckham

    Collection:

    Review Article
Top of page ⤴

Research

  • The encapsulation of supported metal nanoparticles by a thin oxide support overlayer under reducing conditions is commonly referred to as a strong metal–support interaction. Now, by controlling the composition of the reducing agents at the catalyst activation stage, an adsorbate-induced strong metal–support interaction is reported for the commercial Cu/ZnO/Al2O3 catalyst during methanol steam reforming.

    • Didi Li
    • Fang Xu
    • Minghui Zhu
    Article
  • Polymer electrolyte membrane water electrolysis is more efficient than its alkaline counterpart, but its implementation, in part, hinges on developing Earth-abundant catalysts that are active and stable for the oxygen evolution reaction in acid. Now, it is shown that incorporating Mn into Co3O4 substantially extends the catalyst lifetime in acidic electrolyte while maintaining the activity.

    • Ailong Li
    • Shuang Kong
    • Ryuhei Nakamura

    Collection:

    Article
  • How terpene cyclases catalyse deprotonation–reprotonation sequences during their complex reactions has remained obscure. Now it is shown that selinadiene synthase uses the carbonyl group of a glycine residue and an active-site water molecule to mediate this process.

    • Yong-Heng Wang
    • Houchao Xu
    • Jeroen S. Dickschat
    Article
  • Enantioselective C–C bond-forming reactions are underdeveloped in the biocatalysis toolbox. Now, engineering an efficient and promiscuous decarboxylative aldolase enzyme provides a solution to facilitate the convenient synthesis of non-standard γ-hydroxy amino acids from simple building blocks.

    • Jonathan M. Ellis
    • Meghan E. Campbell
    • Andrew R. Buller
    Article
  • Metal–metal oxide inverse catalysts are an intriguing class of materials, although the understanding of their structure–activity properties remains elusive. Here, Vlachos and colleagues unravel the complex dynamic interplay between Brønsted acid and redox sites at the surface of a PtWOx/C inverse catalyst, offering a strategy to tune its acid-catalysed dehydration reactivity.

    • Jiayi Fu
    • Shizhong Liu
    • Dionisios G. Vlachos
    Article
  • Biological CO2 fixation in cells is subject to natural limitations. Now a cell-free system with a cycle that is oxygen-insensitive and self-replenishing has been developed, allowing the conversion of CO2 into several C3 and C4 products in vitro with a steady-state CO2 fixation rate of 0.55 mM h−1.

    • Shanshan Luo
    • Paul P. Lin
    • James C. Liao
    Article Open Access
  • The implementation of precious metal-free catalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction in fuel cells requires techniques that enable the study of catalyst degradation during operation. Now, an electrochemical method to quantify the density of electrochemically active sites in precious metal-free fuel cell catalysts under in situ conditions is presented.

    • Rifael Z. Snitkoff-Sol
    • Ariel Friedman
    • Lior Elbaz
    Article
Top of page ⤴

Search

Quick links