2. Academic Validation
  3. Spatial localization immobilization of metals and enzymes at Pickering emulsion droplet interfaces for chemo-enzymatic cascade catalysis

Spatial localization immobilization of metals and enzymes at Pickering emulsion droplet interfaces for chemo-enzymatic cascade catalysis

  • J Colloid Interface Sci. 2026 Apr 15:708:139840. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2026.139840.
Geling Kuang 1,  Jinchao Hou 2,  Zichen Wang 2,  Lixue Zhao 2,  Yuxiao Feng 3,  Hongwu Wang 4,  Jiandong Cui 5
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 State Key Laboratory of Food Nutrition and Safety, Laboratory of Industrial Fermentation Microbiology, Ministry of Education, Tianjin University of Science and Technology, No 29, 13th, Avenue, Tianjin Economic and Technological Development Area (TEDA), Tianjin 300457, PR China; College of Life Science and Agricultural Engineering, Nanyang Normal University, 1638 Wolong Road, Nanyang, Henan 473061, PR China.
  • 2 State Key Laboratory of Food Nutrition and Safety, Laboratory of Industrial Fermentation Microbiology, Ministry of Education, Tianjin University of Science and Technology, No 29, 13th, Avenue, Tianjin Economic and Technological Development Area (TEDA), Tianjin 300457, PR China.
  • 3 State Key Laboratory of Food Nutrition and Safety, Laboratory of Industrial Fermentation Microbiology, Ministry of Education, Tianjin University of Science and Technology, No 29, 13th, Avenue, Tianjin Economic and Technological Development Area (TEDA), Tianjin 300457, PR China. Electronic address: [email protected].
  • 4 Guangdong Engineering Technology Research Center of Food & Agricultural Product Safety Analysis and Testing, School of Food & Pharmaceutical Engineering, Zhaoqing University, Zhaoqing 526061, PR China. Electronic address: [email protected].
  • 5 State Key Laboratory of Food Nutrition and Safety, Laboratory of Industrial Fermentation Microbiology, Ministry of Education, Tianjin University of Science and Technology, No 29, 13th, Avenue, Tianjin Economic and Technological Development Area (TEDA), Tianjin 300457, PR China; Guangdong Engineering Technology Research Center of Food & Agricultural Product Safety Analysis and Testing, School of Food & Pharmaceutical Engineering, Zhaoqing University, Zhaoqing 526061, PR China. Electronic address: [email protected].
PMID: 41500101 DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2026.139840
Abstract

Developing chemo-enzymatic cascade catalysis in catalytic asymmetric synthesis is of utmost significance, but such processes often suffer from low reaction efficiency because of incompatible reaction environments and suppressed intermediate transportation. Herein, a novel compartmentalised metal-enzyme microcapsule nanohybrid, Candida antarctica Lipase B@Pd(II)-loaded hydrophobic mesoporous silica nanoparticles (CALB@Pd(II)/HB-MSNs), was fabricated by spatially localizing Pd(II) active sites and CALB at the outer and inner interfacial layers of Pickering emulsion droplets, respectively. Benefiting from the localization of two catalysts in their preferred reaction microenvironments, nanoscale proximity of each Other, and interfacial activation of Lipase, the CALB@Pd(II)/HB-MSNs exhibited 60-fold higher activity than traditional random co-immobilized metal-enzyme catalysts (Pd(II)/HB-MSNs/CALB). Furthermore, the conversion of rac-1-phenylethanol catalyzed by CALB@Pd(II)/HB-MSNs reached 47.92 %, compared to only 4 % for the randomly co-immobilized catalyst Pd(II)/HB-MSNs/CALB, with a product enantiomeric excess of≥99 % in the cascade reaction of 4-pentynoic acid cycloisomerisation and racemic 1-phenylethanol chiral resolution. Our study offers a platform for the design of efficient chemoenzymatic catalytic cascades for the synthesis of fine chemicals.

Keywords

Compartmentalization; Interface activation; One-pot cascade reaction; Pickering emulsion; Spatial localization immobilization.

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