Work

Solar‐Assisted eBiorefinery: Photoelectrochemical Pairing of Oxyfunctionalization and Hydrogenation Reactions

Year: 2020

Type: article

Abstract: Inspired by natural photosynthesis, biocatalytic photoelectrochemical (PEC) platforms are gaining prominence for the conversion of solar energy into useful chemicals by combining redox biocatalysis and photoelectrocatalysis. Herein, we report a dual biocatalytic PEC platform consisting of a molybdenum (Mo)‐doped BiVO 4 (Mo:BiVO 4 ) photoanode and an inverse opal ITO (IO‐ITO) cathode that gives rise to the coupling of peroxygenase and ene‐reductase‐mediated catalysis, respectively. In the PEC cell, the photoexcited electrons generated from the Mo:BiVO 4 are transferred to the IO‐ITO and regenerate reduced flavin mononucleotides to drive ene‐reductase‐catalyzed trans ‐hydrogenation of ketoisophrone to ( R )‐levodione. Meanwhile, the photoactivated Mo:BiVO 4 evolves H 2 O 2 in situ via a two‐electron water‐oxidation process with the aid of an applied bias, which simultaneously supplies peroxygenases to drive selective hydroxylation of ethylbenzene into enantiopure ( R )‐1‐phenyl‐1‐hydroxyethane. Thus, the deliberate integration of PEC systems with redox biocatalytic reactions can simultaneously produce valuable chemicals on both electrodes using solar‐powered electrons and water.

Source: Angewandte Chemie International Edition

DOI: 10.1002/anie.202006893

Authors: Da Som Choi, Jinhyun Kim, Frank Hollmann, Chan Beum Park

Institutions: Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Delft University of Technology

Language: English

Topic: Enzyme Catalysis and Immobilization

Subfield: Molecular Biology

Field: Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

Domain: Life Sciences

SDG: Affordable and clean energy

Open Access status: bronze

Funders: National Research Foundation, National Research Foundation of Korea