Abstract
Molecular design of biofunctional catalysts and photocatalysts for stereoselective molecular recognition was surveyed on the basis of our recent works on the design of enzyme (or metalloenzyme) -mimetic catalysts, photocatalytic chiral transition-metal complexes, and catalytic antibodies. The key concept for the present molecular design of highly active and stereoselective catalysts was derived from the transition-state control of enantiodifferentiating reactions. A typical example was indicated through the molecular design of highly active and stereoselective di- or tripeptide catalyst (including L-histidine moiety) for hydrolyzing enantiomeric amino acid esters. The extent of catalytic and stereoselective abilities of chiral manganese (II, III) porphyrins and ruthenium (II) tris (bipyridine) complexes was also tested in tryptophan-2, 3-dioxygenase and photo-induced electron transfer reactions, respectively. Finally, essential importance of reaction dynamics analysis was emphasized by taking notice of catalytic antibodies designed for recognizing the transition-state of reaction as an artificial enzyme.
