Construction of a hybrid biocatalyst containing a covalently-linked terpyridine metal complex within a cavity of aponitrobindin

Hybrid biocatalysts combining metal terpyridine complexes and β-barrel nitrobindin protein were prepared to catalyze a Diels-Alder reaction. The Cu2 +-terpyridine complex embedded within nitrobindin exhibits higher catalytic activity than the Cu2 +-terpyridine complex without a protein matrix. This demonstrates the importance of the outer coordination sphere provided by the protein cavity.156