Nanogel Catalysts for the Hydrolysis of Underivatized Disaccharides Identified by a Fast Screening Assay

Abstract

Applying high-throughput synthetic and screening methods for the development of catalytic micro- and nanogels remains challenging due to the nature of the workflow. Typical procedures require the preparation of stable miniemulsions, followed by radical polymerization, purification of the obtained gels by extensive extraction or dialysis, and subsequent characterization of physical properties and examination of desired functions. To streamline the process, we altered the gel synthesis procedure and developed a screening protocol to identify gel compositions with the desired catalytic function. The assays identify five out of 50 synthesized gels from eight different cross-linkers with high potential to hydrolyze carbohydrates. A catalytic proficiency (kcat/KM × knon) of up to 1.4 × 106 and gel activity of 0.8 μmol h–1 mg–1 were observed placing the synthesized gels among the most proficient catalysts known for the hydrolysis of nonactivated glycosidic bonds.