Abstract
This lecture discusses the strategy of bioinspired catalysis, which involves developing catalysts that mimic the structural and/or functional properties of enzyme active sites. This multidisciplinary strategy has long been used successfully. However, while the traditional approach consists in translating the organizational and functional principles of an enzyme active site into an exclusively molecular catalyst (moving from a molecule - the enzyme - to a molecule - the bioinspired catalyst), very recently a more original approach, implemented at the Collège de France's " laboratory of Chemistry of Biological Processes " in particular, has led to the development of new catalysts based on this bioinspired chemistry approach. In this case, we move from a molecule - the enzyme - to a solid - the heterogeneous bioinspired catalyst.
Among the most representative examples of this research, is discussed in detail: (i) molybdenum sulfide, inspired by the active sites of nitrogenase and formate dehydrogenase, is an excellent catalyst for the reduction of protons to hydrogen ; (ii) mixed oxides of calcium and manganese, which wonderfully mimic the active site of the II photosystem and catalyze the oxidation of water to oxygen ; mixed sulfides of nickel and iron, which mimic the active site of hydrogenases and catalyze the reduction of water to hydrogen.
