Chemo-enzymatic cascade oxidation in supercritical carbon dioxide/water biphasic media

Abstract

Enantioselective sulfoxidation was carried out by cascade reaction of Pd(0) catalysed formation of H2O2 and enzymatic oxidation using chloroperoxidase from Caldariomyces fumago. Supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2) was used as medium for in situ generation of H2O2 directly from H2 and O2 using Pd-catalysts. Subsequently, H2O2 was utilised by the chloroperoxidase as an oxidant for the asymmetric sulfoxidation in the aqueous phase. This chemo-enzymatic cascade transformation exemplifies the potential of compartmentalisation of catalytic processes in multiphase systems.