Project description
Mimicking biology’s energy-driven chemistry with ‘alloelectronic’ catalysis
Living systems routinely perform chemical reactions whose kinetic and thermodynamic conditions make them difficult to replicate synthetically. Nature couples these reactions to energy-carrier molecules via allostery – ligand binding adjacent to an active site that modifies the enzyme’s conformation to increase catalytic activity. Realising this capability in synthetic chemistry would be transformative. With the support of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the AlloElectro project aims to develop an analogous strategy for synthetic metal catalysts, exploiting controlled remote electronic perturbations to dynamically adapt catalytic activity without direct modification of the active site. This ‘alloelectronic’ approach could enable uphill, programmable synthesis using established catalysts and methods.
Objective
The kinetic and thermodynamic rules that govern synthetic chemistry should be considered limitations to overcome. Thermodynamically, spontaneous chemical reactions must proceed energetically downhill. Kinetically, the rate of a reaction is constrained by the slowest chemical step, which limits the extent to which a reaction can accelerated by catalysis. Biology overcomes these limitations by expending energy, coupling the reactions of ‘energy carrier’ molecules to thermodynamically or kinetically unfavourable processes, enabling nitrogen fixation under mild conditions (driven catalysis), ‘uphill’ adenosine triphosphate (ATP) synthesis (endergonic synthesis), and high-fidelity sequence-specific polymerization (programmable synthesis) by the ribosome. Replicating this strategy would be transformative in synthetic chemistry, changing the way that chemists think about and perform synthesis. Crucial to biology’s driven reactivity is allostery, where ligand binding adjacent to an enzyme active site induces a conformational change that modulates catalytic activity. When these conformational changes are driven by the reaction of ‘energy carrier’ molecules at the allosteric site, energy can be transduced to the catalysed reaction to permit nonequilibrium control. Instead of complex conformational changes, the aim of this proposal is to develop and explore alloelectronic catalysis. AlloElectro aims to exploit simple and controlled electronic changes in the ligand field (i.e. at an ‘alloelectronic’ site) of common metal catalysts. Reversible changes in the electronic environment of the ‘active site’ will enable a metal catalyst to adapt to individual elementary steps and overcome them, with the energy input capable of being transduced to drive the catalysed reaction uphill. The alloelectronic effect therefore results in new opportunities for ‘contra-thermodynamic’ reactivity, driven catalysis and programmable synthesis using established catalysts, ligands and methods.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
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CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-GF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - Global Fellowships
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2025-PF
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
CB2 1TN CAMBRIDGE
United Kingdom
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.