Photocoupling multi-enzyme nanoreactor simultaneously synthesizes pentanediamine and formic acid

Abstract

Global output of bio-based products continues to increase, but the release of carbon dioxide (CO2) has exacerbated the environmental crisis. The simultaneous conversion of CO2 released by bioprocesses into high-value products is increasingly gaining attention. With this in mind, a compartmentalized photocoupling multi-enzyme nanoreactor consisting of two nanocompartments was created. This nanoreactor uses a ferric tannin-gelatin (TA-Gel) coacervate to synchronously wrap nanocompartment I, which quickly sequesters the CO2 released by biodecarboxylation to prevent its loss, and nanocompartment II, which converts the sequestered CO2 into formic acid. The results indicate that nanocompartment I and II were encapsulated in the nanoreactor with high catalytic efficiency. Under the optimal conditions, the yields of pentanediamine and formic acid reached 15.7 ± 1.06 and 8.4 ± 0.07 mM, respectively. Yields of pentanediamine and formic acid by the photocoupling multi-enzyme nanoreactor were highest. The conversion efficiency of formic acid from CO2 released by biodecarboxylation by the photocoupling multi-enzyme nanoreactor, mixed nanocompartments, and free one-pot multi-enzyme system was 54.5 %, 43.8 %, and 10.0 %, respectively. The proximity effect significantly promotes the catalytic efficiency of formic acid synthesis from CO2 released by biodecarboxylation. The novel photocoupling multi-enzyme nanoreactor has important capabilites for upgrading multi-enzyme programmed catalysis.