Polymer‐assisted biocatalysis: Unprecedented enzymatic oxidation of fullerene in aqueous medium

Abstract

Abstract Enzymatic complexes, constructed by linear‐dendritic copolymers and laccase, are used for the unprecedented one‐pot biotransformation of fullerene (C 60 ) into epoxide‐ and hydroxyl‐derivatives under mild and environmentally friendly reaction conditions (45 °C and aqueous medium). The reaction is catalyzed by mediator pairs ‐ N ‐hydroxy‐5‐norbornene‐2,3‐dicarboxylic acid imide/1‐Hydroxybenzotriazole or 2,2′‐Azino‐bis(3‐ethylbenzothiazoline‐6‐sulfonic acid)/1‐Hydroxybenzotriazole used in equimolar amounts. After 24 and 48 h, the biotransformation products C 60 O n , C 60 (OH) n , C 60 (H) n (OH) n , and/or C 60 O n (H) m (OH) m range between 50 and 78%, respectively. Their structure is revealed by FTIR, NMR, and mass‐spectrometry. The mechanism of the process is discussed and elucidated. The reaction procedure allows the repeated usage of the enzyme/linear‐dendritic complex, which retains its catalytic activity after several cycles. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2012