Molecular fusion of surfactant and Lewis-acid properties for attacking dirt by catalytic bond cleavage

Abstract The capability of ordinary surfactants in solubilizing hydrophobic compounds can come to a limit, if the extension of a contaminant is too large. An attractive goal is the development of surfactants which can actively reduce the size of dirt. Because strong Lewis acids are known to catalyze...

Descripción completa

Guardado en:
Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Marvin L. Frisch, Sebastian Polarz
Formato: article
Lenguaje:EN
Publicado: Nature Portfolio 2021
Materias:
R
Q
Acceso en línea:https://doaj.org/article/24cf12cddad0447f9570ff929ba12c1d
Etiquetas: Agregar Etiqueta
Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!
Descripción
Sumario:Abstract The capability of ordinary surfactants in solubilizing hydrophobic compounds can come to a limit, if the extension of a contaminant is too large. An attractive goal is the development of surfactants which can actively reduce the size of dirt. Because strong Lewis acids are known to catalyze both bond formation and cleavage, an integration into the surfactant's molecular framework is tempting. End-group functionalized hepta-dentate ligands, which coordinate to metal ions preventing deactivation by hydrolysis over a broad range of pH values while maintaining strong Lewis-acidity, are herein presented. After proof of amphiphilicity and surfactant characteristics, catalytic properties are investigated for different reactions including the cleavage of proteins. The compounds perform better than benchmark catalysts concerning the attack of unreactive amide bonds. A study with two Sc3+ species as the active site, one non-amphiphilic, the other one being surface-active, underlines the positive effect of surfactant properties for boosting catalytic efficiency.