Development of Metal-organic Frameworks or Metal-oxide cluster for (bio) catalytic applications

Researchers have developed a novel generation of nanozymes with proteolytic activity by preparing discrete Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). MOFs based on Zr6O8 metal clusters have highly porous structures and Lewis acidity and can be used for the selective hydrolysis of peptides and proteins under mild conditions. Due to their heterogeneous character the MOF catalyst can be easily separated from the reaction mixture and recycled without significant loss of activity. As a result, it is necessary to provide molecular insight into this novel reactivity of MOFs and explore the interplay between MOF structure and its enzyme-like activity. On the other hand, hiring the discrete metal-oxide clusters as efficient heterogenous catalysts in the application of hydrolysis of proteins is also one of the main research objectives.