Consequences of Folding a Water‐Soluble Polymer Around an Organocatalyst

Abstract

Give 'em structure: The presence of structuring elements in polymers that were functionalized with catalytic units resulted in a new class of enzyme mimics, which are only active in the folded state (see picture). The conformationally adaptive hydrophobic environment that surrounds the catalytic site allows the very efficient catalysis of an aldol reaction in water with Michaelis–Menten kinetics.