Artificial metalloenzymes from bovine β-lactoglobulin and transition metal N-functionalised N-heterocyclic carbene cofactors

• Main Author: Ang, Po Kai
• Other Authors: Leung Pak Hing
• Format: Thesis-Doctor of Philosophy
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2023
• Subjects: Science::Chemistry
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/168536
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Drawing inspiration from natural metalloenzymes such as hydrogenases and nitrogenases and being involved in many biological processes, artificial metalloenzymes involve the assembly of synthetic metal cofactors to a protein host to create biohybrids having tailored catalytic activity. A series of N-functionalised N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) metal complexes featuring long aliphatic carbon chains has been synthesized and their subsequent assembly to bovine β-lactoglobulin, a protein found in the whey fraction of milk, was investigated. The catalytic potential of both the NHC-metal cofactors and bioconjugates was studied via the hydroarylation of a pro-fluorescent substrate.