Carboxylate-imidazole cooperativity in dipeptide-functionalized gold nanoparticles with esterase-like activity |
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Authors: | Pengo Paolo Polizzi Stefano Pasquato Lucia Scrimin Paolo |
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Institution: | University of Padua, Department of Chemical Sciences and ITM-CNR, Padua Section, 35131 Padua, Italy. |
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Abstract: | We report here the first example of peptide-functionalized gold nanoparticles hydrolytically active against carboxylate esters. The active units are constituted by His-Phe-OH terminating thiols. The confinement of the catalytic units in the monolayer covering the nanoparticles triggers a cooperative hydrolytic mechanism operative at pH < 7 in which a carboxylate and an imidazolium ion act as general base and general acid, respectively. Such a mechanism is absent with an analogous monomeric dipeptide, and this results in a more than 300-fold rate acceleration of the hydrolytic process at low pH in the presence of the functional nanoparticles. |
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