Design of heme and heme enzymes modified with surfactants for oxidation reactions in organic media

摘要

Generally speaking, most of chemicals and pharmaceuticals currently used are composed of hydrophobic materials. Recently, the utilization of enzymes for the conversion and the resolution of such compounds has been feasible because it has been well-known that enzymes show their catalytic properties in a variety of organic solvents~(1)). However, the usage of enzymes as an industrial catalyst is often limited owing to the lower catalytic efficiency in organic media compared to that in aqueous systems. The solubilization of enzymes in nonaqueous media is one of the unique strategies to overcome this defect. In the present study, we focus attention on the modification of biocatalysts with a surfactant for oxidation reactions in organic media. We selected heme enzymes as model proteins because few studies including the modification of such enzymes were reported so far~(2)). The resultant surfactant-heme enzyme complexes eexhibited the catalytic activity for several oxidation reactioons in organic solvents. Furthermore, the catalytic properties of the Fe and Mn protoporphyrins and a mutant protein modified with a surfactant were also discussed.