Researchers develop water-stable ruthenium catalyst for use in living cells
A team from the Swiss Nanoscience Institute and the University of Basel has created a new ruthenium catalyst that remains stable in water and can attach to biomolecules.
Previous catalysts faced stability limits
Earlier ruthenium catalysts used for olefin metathesis rapidly degrade when exposed to aqueous or biological environments. This degradation made their application in natural systems like cells or blood extremely difficult for scientists.
New ligand improves water stability
The new approach uses a specifically tailored cyclic (alkyl)(amino) carbene ligand to solve the durability problem. Damian Graf, a doctoral student at the SNI Ph.D. School, notes that this catalyst is significantly more stable in water than previous versions.
Catalyst attaches to proteins easily
An integrated aniline group allows the catalyst to couple selectively with proteins or peptides. This feature enables the material to remain active for up to 600 reaction cycles while targeting specific biological systems.
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