Heat-fueled enzymatic cascade for selective oxyfunctionalization of hydrocarbons.

Yoon, Jaeho; Jang, Hanhwi; Oh, Min-Wook; Hilberath, Thomas; Hollmann, Frank; Jung, Yeon Sik; Park, Chan Beum · Nat Commun · 2022

basic_science · Level V

Where this comes from

Abstract

Heat is a fundamental feedstock, where more than 80% of global energy comes from fossil-based heating process. However, it is mostly wasted due to a lack of proper techniques of utilizing the low-quality waste heat (<100 °C). Here we report thermoelectrobiocatalytic chemical conversion systems for heat-fueled, enzyme-catalyzed oxyfunctionalization reactions. Thermoelectric bismuth telluride (Bi<sub>2</sub>Te<sub>3</sub>) directly converts low-temperature waste heat into chemical energy in the form of H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub> near room temperature. The streamlined reaction scheme (e.g., water, heat, enzyme, and thermoelectric material) promotes enantio- and chemo-selective hydroxylation and epoxidation of representative substrates (e.g., ethylbenzene, propylbenzene, tetralin, cyclohexane, cis-β-methylstyrene), achieving a maximum total turnover number of rAaeUPO (TTN<sub>rAaeUPO</sub>) over 32000. Direct conversion of vehicle exhaust heat into the enantiopure enzymatic product with a rate of 231.4 μM h<sup>-1</sup> during urban driving envisions the practical feasibility of thermoelectrobiocatalysis.

Medical subject headings