Artificial enzyme

An artificial enzyme is a synthetic, organic molecule prepared to recreate the active site of an enzyme.

Enzyme catalysis of chemical reactions occur with high selectivity and rate in a small part of the enzyme macromolecule known as the active site. There, the binding of a substrate close to functional groups in the enzyme causes catalysis by so-called proximity effects. It is therefore possible to create similar catalysts from small molecule mimics of enzyme active sites by combining, in a small molecule, the ability to bind substrate with catalytic functional groups. Since the artificial enzymes need to bind molecules, they are made based on a host-molecule such as a cyclodextrin, crown ethers or calixarene etc.