Artificial Metalloenzymes with the Neocarzinostatin Scaffold: Toward a Biocatalyst for the Diels-Alder Reaction

A copper(II) cofactor coupled to a testosterone anchor, copper(II)‐(5‐(Piperazin‐1‐yl)‐1,10‐phenanthroline)testosterone‐17‐hemisuccinamide (10) was synthesized and associated with a neocarzinostatin variant, NCS‐3.24 (KD=3 μm), thus generating a new artificial metalloenzyme by following a “Trojan horse” strategy. Interestingly, the artificial enzyme was able to efficiently catalyze the Diels–Alder cyclization reaction of cyclopentadiene (1) with 2‐azachalcone (2). In comparison with what was observed with cofactor 10 alone, the artificial enzymes favored formation of the exo products (endo/exo ratios of 84:16 and 62:38, respectively, after 12 h). Molecular modeling studies assigned the synergy between the copper complex and the testosterone (KD=13 μm) moieties in the binding of 10 to good van der Waals complementarity. Moreover, by pushing the modeling exercise to its limits, we hypothesize on the molecular grounds that are responsible for the observed selectivity. A new artificial enzyme formed by associating NCS‐3.24 with a copper complex catalyzed the Diels–Alder cyclization of cyclopentadiene with 2‐azachalcone and led to an increase in the formation of the exo‐products. Molecular modeling proposed the preferred relative positioning of both the Trojan horse complex and the two substrates.