The unique chiral structure of DNA has been a source of inspiration for the development of a new class of bio-inspired catalysts. The novel concept of DNA-based asymmetric catalysis, which was introduced only five years ago, has been applied successfully in a variety of catalytic enantioselective reactions. In this tutorial review, the ideas behind this novel concept will be introduced, an overview of the catalytic chemistry available to date will be given and the role of DNA in catalysis will be discussed. Finally, an overview of new developments of potential interest for DNA-based asymmetric catalysis will be provided.

Inspired by nature, the use of helical biopolymer catalysts has emerged over the last years as a new approach to asymmetric catalysis. In this Concept article the various approaches and designs and their application in asymmetric catalysis will be discussed.

Organic co-solvents in aqueous DNA-based asymmetric catalysis Megens, Rik P.; Roelfes, Gerard

DNA-induced rate acceleration has been identified as one of the key elements for the success of the DNA-based catalysis concept. Here we report on a novel DNA-based catalytic Friedel-Crafts conjugate addition/enantioselective protonation reaction in water, which represents the first example of a reaction that critically depends on the >700- to 990-fold rate acceleration caused by the presence of a DNA scaffold. The DNA-induced rate acceleration observed is the highest reported due to the environment presented by a biomolecular scaffold for any hybrid catalyst, to date. Based on a combination of kinetics and binding studies, it is proposed that the rate acceleration is in part due to the DNA acting as a pseudophase, analogous to micelles, in which all reaction components are concentrated, resulting in a high effective molarity. The involvement of additional second coordination sphere interactions is suggested by the enantioselectivity of the product. The results presented here show convincingly that the DNA-based catalysis concept, thanks to the DNA-accelerating effect, can be an effective approach to achieving a chemically challenging reaction in water.

Using the DNA-based catalysis concept, a novel Cu(II) catalyzed enantioselective oxa-Michael addition of alcohols to enones is reported. Enantioselectivities of up to 86% were obtained. The presence of water is important for the reactivity, possibly by reverting unwanted side reactions such as 1,2-additions.

Co-solute paramagnetic relaxation enhancement (PRE) is an attractive way to speed up data acquisition in NMR spectroscopy by shortening the T 1 relaxation time of the nucleus of interest and thus the necessary recycle delay. Here, we present the rationale to utilize high-spin iron(III) as the optimal transition metal for this purpose and characterize the properties of its neutral chelate form Fe(DO3A) as a suitable PRE agent. Fe(DO3A) effectively reduces the T 1 values across the entire sequence of the intrinsically disordered protein α-synuclein with negligible impact on line width. The agent is better suited than currently used alternatives, shows no specific interaction with the polypeptide chain and, due to its high relaxivity, is effective at low concentrations and in 'proton-less' NMR experiments. By using Fe(DO3A) we were able to complete the backbone resonance assignment of a highly fibrillogenic peptide from α1-antitrypsin by acquiring the necessary suite of multidimensional NMR datasets in 3 h.

The cytotoxicity of the anti-tumor drug BLM is believed to be related to the ability of the corresponding iron complex (Fe-BLM) to engage in oxidative double-strand DNA cleavage. The iron complex of the ligand N4Py (Fe-N4Py; N4Py = N,N-bis(2-pyridyl)-N-bis(2-pyridyl)methylamine) has proven to be a particularly valuable spectroscopic and functional model for Fe-BLM. It is also a very active oxidative DNA-cleaving agent. However, like all other synthetic Fe-BLM mimics, it gives only single-strand DNA cleavage. Since double-strand DNA cleavage requires the delivery of two oxidizing equivalents to the DNA, it was envisaged that multinuclear iron complexes might be capable of effecting double-strand cleavage. For this purpose, a series of ditopic and tritopic N4Py-derived ligands has been synthesized and the corresponding iron complexes have been evaluated for their efficacy in the oxidative cleavage of supercoiled pUC18 plasmid DNA. The dinuclear iron complexes showed significantly enhanced double-strand cleavage activity compared to mononuclear Fe-N4Py, which was relatively independent of the structure of the linking moiety. Covalent attachment of a 9-aminoacridine intercalator to a dinuclear complex did not give rise to improved double-strand DNA cleavage. The most efficient oxidative double-strand cleavage agents proved to be the trinuclear iron complexes. This is presumably the result of increased probability of the simultaneous delivery of two oxidizing equivalents to the DNA.

A laccase/(2,2,6,6‐tetramethylpiperidin‐1‐yl)oxy (TEMPO) mediated oxidation was combined with an aqueous, enantioselective copper‐catalyzed Michael addition reaction of water in one pot. The copper catalyst was also immobilized onto DNA to induce enantioselectivity in the reaction. Low conversions were observed when the reactions were performed simultaneously, caused by an undesired reaction of an oxidised TEMPO intermediate. We increased the conversions by using a stepwise approach. Thus, after completion of the oxidation, the first reaction was stopped by inhibiting the enzyme with HCO2K and reducing the reactive TEMPO intermediate. Next, the Michael addition reaction was started by adding the Cu catalyst. By applying this strategy, an efficient two‐step one‐pot sequence, proceeding with 20 % ee, was realized. The yield and ee of the second reaction were not affected by the oxidation reaction.