Development of the aza-crown ether metal complexes as artificial hydrolase

• The comments on the development of aza-crown ether metal complexes as the artificial hydrolase.
• The structural characteristics and the catalytic effects of the aza-crown ether metal complexes as hydrolase.
• The synergistic catalytic effect between the metal sites and ligands of the artificial hydrolase.
• The comments on the design strategies of the artificial hydrolase based on aza-crown ethers.

Hydrolases play a crucial role in the biochemical process, which can catalyze the hydrolysis of various compounds like carboxylic esters, phosphoesters, amides, nucleic acids, peptides, and so on. The design of artificial hydrolases has attracted extensive attention due to their scientific significance and potential applications in the field of gene medicine and molecular biology. Numerous macrocyclic metal complexes have been used as artificial hydrolase in the catalytic hydrolysis of the organic substrate. Aza-crown ether for this comment is a special class of the macrocyclic ligand containing both the nitrogen atoms and oxygen atoms in the ring. The studies showed that the aza-crown complexes exhibited high activity of hydrolytic enzyme. However, the aza-crown ether metal complex as artificial hydrolase is still very limited because of its difficulty in synthesis. This review summarizes the development of the aza-crown ether metal complexes as the artificial hydrolase, including the synthesis and catalysis of the transition metal complexes and lanthanide metal complexes of aza-crown ethers. The purpose of this review is to highlight: (1) the relationship between the structure and hydrolytic activity of synthetic hydrolase; (2) the synergistic effect of metal sites and ligands in the course of organic compound hydrolysis; and (3) the design strategies of the aza-crown ethers as hydrolase.

The review summarizes the synthesis and catalysis of aza-crown ether metal complexes as artificial hydrolases with favorable catalytic activity in hydrolysis of nucleic acids, phosphate esters and so on; highlights the relationship between the structure and hydrolytic activity, and the synergistic effect of metal sites and ligands of artificial hydrolase in the course of organic compound hydrolysis.Figure optionsDownload as PowerPoint slide