The development of artificial synthetic receptors that imitate the binding site of enzymes and other proteins is a challenging task. In particular, reproducing the innate flexibility of proteinogenic receptors is particularly difficult, although it is an essential feature for functions such as enzymatic catalysis. Now, researchers at IQCC have developed a novel synthetic receptor that displays unprecedented flexibility. This host has been applied to the selective binding of coronene, a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon of remarkable size.
The paper was published online recently in Royal Society of Chemistry’s flagship journal Chemical Science:
D. Lozano, R. Álvarez-Yebra, R. López-Coll, and A. Lledó
“A flexible self-folding receptor for coronene”
Chem. Sci. 2019, ASAP [abstract]
DOI: 10.1039/c9sc03158h