Supramolecular complex of cytochrome c with lariat ether: solubilization, redox behavior and catalytic activity of cytochrome c in methanol.

A variety of lariat ethers were employed to solubilize water-soluble cytochrome c in methanol, in which alcohol, ether, ester, amine, and amide functionalities were attached as cation-ligating side arms to 18-crown-6, 15-crown-5, and 12-crown-4 rings. Among these lariat ethers, the alcohol-armed 18-crown-6 derivative offered the highest solubilization efficiency for cytochrome c via supramolecular complexation. The resulting cytochrome c-lariat ether complexes were electrochemically and spectroscopically characterized and confirmed to have redox-active heme structures of 6-coordinate low-spin population in methanol. Some of them catalyzed the oxidation of pinacyanol chloride with hydrogen peroxide in methanol and exhibited higher activities than unmodified cytochrome c and its poly(ethylene glycolated) derivative. Since the supramolecular complexation between lariat ether and cytochrome c includes extremely simple procedures, it provides a facile preparation method of effective biocatalysts working in organic solvents from metalloproteins.