A chiral covalent organic framework (COF) nanozyme with ultrahigh enzymatic activity

Abstract

Herein, we report the first chiral nanozyme with higher activity than the natural enzyme, which is designed based on mimicking a natural enzyme and the superior structure of covalent organic framework (COF) materials. The well-dispersed iron porphyrin and L-histidine (L-His) units endow the COF nanozyme with high activity. The incorporation of L-His units also imbues the COF nanozyme with selectivity for L-dopa in the oxidation of dopa enantiomers with a selectivity factor up to 1.86, while replacing L-His with D-His can reverse the preference to D-dopa with a selectivity factor of 1.51. The activity and selectivity of the COF nanozyme can be optimized by varying the L-His content which can change the activation energy of the catalytic reactions and the substrate binding.