Near-infrared light-driven asymmetric photolytic reduction of ketone using inorganic-enzyme hybrid biocatalyst

Effective photolytic regeneration of the NAD( P )H cofactor in enzymatic reductions is an important and elusive goal in biocatalysis. It can, in principle, be achieved using a near-infrared light (NIR) driven artificial photosynthesis system employing H 2 O as the sacrificial reductant. To this end we utilized TiO 2 /reduced graphene quantum dots (r-GQDs), combined with a novel rhodium electron mediator, to continuously supply NADPH in situ for aldo-keto reductase (AKR) mediated asymmetric reductions under NIR irradiation. This upconversion system, in which the Ti-O-C bonds formed between r-GQDs and TiO 2 enabled efficient interfacial charge transfer, was able to regenerate NADPH efficiently in 64 % yield in 105 min. Based on this, the pharmaceutical intermediate ( R )-1-(3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)ethan-1-ol was obtained, in 84 % yield and 99.98 % ee, by reduction of the corresponding ketone. The photo-enzymatic system is recyclable with a polymeric electron mediator, which maintained 66 % of its original catalytic efficiency and excellent enantioselectivity (99.9 % ee) after 6 cycles.