Wei Wan

Enzymatic catalytic processes possess great potential in chemical manufacturing, including pharmaceuticals, fuel production and food processing. However, the engineering of enzymes is severely hampered due to their low operational stability and difficulty of reuse. Here, we develop a series of stable metal-organic frameworks with rationally designed ultra-large mesoporous cages as single-molecule traps (SMTs) for enzyme encapsulation. With a high concentration of mesoporous cages as SMTs, PCN-333(Al) encapsulates three enzymes with record-high loadings and recyclability. Immobilized enzymes that most likely undergo single-enzyme encapsulation (SEE) show smaller Km than free enzymes while maintaining comparable catalytic efficiency. Under harsh conditions, the enzyme in SEE exhibits better performance than free enzyme, showing the effectiveness of SEE in preventing enzyme aggregation or denaturation. With extraordinarily large pore size and excellent chemical stability, PCN-333 may be of interest not only for enzyme encapsulation, but also for entrapment of other nanoscaled functional moieties. Enzymatic catalytic processes have great industrial potential, although their application is hampered by stability and reuse issues. Here, the authors report metal-organic frameworks with rationally designed single-molecule traps for enzyme encapsulation, and evaluate the activity of the confined enzymes.

Implementation of a computer program package for automated collection and processing of rotation electron diffraction (RED) data is described. The software package contains two computer programs: RED data collection and RED data processing. The RED data collection program controls the transmission electron microscope and the camera. Electron beam tilts at a fine step (0.05–0.20°) are combined with goniometer tilts at a coarse step (2.0–3.0°) around a common tilt axis, which allows a fine relative tilt to be achieved between the electron beam and the crystal in a large tilt range. An electron diffraction (ED) frame is collected at each combination of beam tilt and goniometer tilt. The RED data processing program processes three-dimensional ED data generated by the RED data collection program or by other approaches. It includes shift correction of the ED frames, peak hunting for diffraction spots in individual ED frames and identification of these diffraction spots as reflections in three dimensions. Unit-cell parameters are determined from the positions of reflections in three-dimensional reciprocal space. All reflections are indexed, and finally a list with hkl indices and intensities is output. The data processing program also includes a visualizer to view and analyse three-dimensional reciprocal lattices reconstructed from the ED frames. Details of the implementation are described. Data collection and data processing with the software RED are demonstrated using a calcined zeolite sample, silicalite-1. The structure of the calcined silicalite-1, with 72 unique atoms, could be solved from the RED data by routine direct methods.

Two families of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs), MIL-88 and MIL-101 built by trinuclear transition metal (TM) clusters (TM = Cr, Fe, or Sc), have been known for several years, but their syntheses are often reported separately. In fact, these MOFs are polymorphs, or framework isomers: they are assembled from the same metal secondary building units and organic linkers, but the connectivity of these components differs. Here we report for the first time the synthesis of the vanadium MOF MIL-88B(V) and compare its synthesis parameters to those of MIL-47(V) and the recently reported MIL-101(V). The properties of MIL-88B(V) and MIL-101(V) are remarkably different. MIL-88B(V) can “breathe” and is responsive to different solvents, while MIL-101(V) is rigid and contains mesoporous cages. MIL-101(V) exhibits the highest specific surface area among vanadium MOFs discovered so far. In addition, both MIL-88B(V) and MIL-101(V) transform to MIL-47 at higher temperatures. We have also identified the key synthesis parameters that control the formation of MIL-88B(V), MIL-101(V), and MIL-47: temperature, time, and pH. This relates to the rate of reaction between the metal and linkers, which has been monitored by ex situ X-ray powder diffraction and V K-edge X-ray absorption spectroscopy during MOF synthesis. It is therefore important to fully study the synthesis conditions to improve our understanding of framework isomerism in MOFs.