Coordination‐cage‐catalysed hydrolysis of organophosphates : cavity‐ or surface‐based?

The hydrophobic central cavity of a water‐soluble M8L12 cubic coordination cage can accommodate a range of phospho‐diester and phospho‐triester guests such as the insecticide “dichlorvos” (2,2‐dichlorovinyl dimethyl phosphate) and the chemical warfare agent analogue di(isopropyl) chlorophosphate. The accumulation of hydroxide ions around the cationic cage surface due to ion‐pairing in solution generates a high local pH around the cage, resulting in catalysed hydrolysis of the phospho‐triester guests. A series of control experiments unexpectedly demonstrates that—in marked contrast to previous cases—it is not necessary for the phospho‐triester substrates to be bound inside the cavity for catalysed hydrolysis to occur. This suggests that catalysis can occur on the exterior surface of the cage as well as the interior surface, with the exterior‐binding catalysis pathway dominating here because of the small binding constants for these phospho‐triester substrates in the cage cavity. These observations suggest that cationic but hydrophobic surfaces could act as quite general catalysts in water by bringing substrates into contact with the surface (via the hydrophobic effect) where there is also a high local concentration of anions (due to ion pairing/electrostatic effects)

Catalysis in a Cationic Coordination Cage Using a Cavity-Bound Guest and Surface-Bound Anions: Inhibition, Activation, and Autocatalysis

The Kemp elimination (reaction of benzisoxazole with base to give 2-cyanophenolate) is catalyzed in the cavity of a cubic M8L12coordination cage because of a combination of (i) benzisoxazole binding in the cage cavity driven by the hydrophobic effect, and (ii) accumulation of hydroxide ions around the 16+ cage surface driven by ion-pairing. Here we show how reaction of the cavity-bound guest is modified by the presence of other anions which can also accumulate around the cage surface and displace hydroxide, inhibiting catalysis of the cage-based reaction. Addition of chloride or fluoride inhibits the reaction with hydroxide to the extent that a new autocatalytic pathway becomes apparent, resulting in a sigmoidal reaction profile. In this pathway the product 2-cyanophenolate itself accumulates around the cationic cage surface, acting as the base for the next reaction cycle. The affinity of different anions for the cage surface is therefore 2-cyanophenolate (generating autocatalysis) > chloride > fluoride (which both inhibit the reaction with hydroxide but cannot deprotonate the benzisoxazole guest) > hydroxide (default reaction pathway). The presence of this autocatalytic pathway demonstrates that a reaction of a cavity-bound guest can be induced with different anions around the cage surface in a controllable way; this was confirmed by adding different phenolates to the reaction, which accelerate the Kemp elimination to different extents depending on their basicity. This represents a significant step toward the goal of using the cage as a catalyst for bimolecular reactions between a cavity-bound guest and anions accumulated around the surface

Interaction of anions with the surface of a coordination cage in aqueous solution probed by their effect on a cage-catalysed Kemp elimination

An octanuclear M8L12 coordination cage catalyses the Kemp elimination reaction of 5-nitro-1,2-benzisoxazole (NBI) with hydroxide to give 2-cyano-4-nitrophenolate (CNP) as the product. In contrast to the previously-reported very efficient catalysis of the Kemp elimination reaction of unsubstituted benzisoxazole, which involves the substrate binding inside the cage cavity, the catalysed reaction of NBI with hydroxide is slower and occurs at the external surface of the cage, even though NBI can bind inside the cage cavity. The rate of the catalysed reaction is sensitive to the presence of added anions, which bind to the 16+ cage surface, displacing the hydroxide ions from around the cage which are essential reaction partners in the Kemp elimination. Thus we can observe different binding affinities of anions to the surface of the cationic cage in aqueous solution by the extent to which they displace hydroxide and thereby inhibit the catalysed Kemp elimination and slow down the appearance of CNP. For anions with a −1 charge the observed affinity order for binding to the cage surface is consistent with their ease of desolvation and their ordering in the Hofmeister series. With anions that are significantly basic (fluoride, hydrogen carbonate, carboxylates) the accumulation of the anion around the cage surface accelerates the Kemp elimination compared to the background reaction with hydroxide, which we ascribe to the ability of these anions to participate directly in the Kemp elimination. This work provides valuable mechanistic insights into the role of the cage in co-locating the substrate and the anionic reaction partners in a cage-catalysed reaction

A Meta-analysis of Gene Expression Signatures of Blood Pressure and Hypertension

10.1371/journal.pgen.1005035PLoS Genetics113e100503