Photocoupling multi-enzyme nanoreactor simultaneously synthesizes pentanediamine and formic acid

Global output of bio-based products continues to increase, but the release of carbon dioxide (CO₂) has exacerbated the environmental crisis. The simultaneous conversion of CO₂ released by bioprocesses into high-value products is increasingly gaining attention. With this in mind, a compartmentalized photocoupling multi-enzyme nanoreactor consisting of two nanocompartments was created. This nanoreactor uses a ferric tannin-gelatin (TA-Gel) coacervate to synchronously wrap nanocompartment I, which quickly sequesters the CO₂ released by biodecarboxylation to prevent its loss, and nanocompartment II, which converts the sequestered CO₂ into formic acid. The results indicate that nanocompartment I and II were encapsulated in the nanoreactor with high catalytic efficiency. Under the optimal conditions, the yields of pentanediamine and formic acid reached 15.7 ± 1.06 and 8.4 ± 0.07 mM, respectively. Yields of pentanediamine and formic acid by the photocoupling multi-enzyme nanoreactor were highest. The conversion efficiency of formic acid from CO₂ released by biodecarboxylation by the photocoupling multi-enzyme nanoreactor, mixed nanocompartments, and free one-pot multi-enzyme system was 54.5 %, 43.8 %, and 10.0 %, respectively. The proximity effect significantly promotes the catalytic efficiency of formic acid synthesis from CO₂ released by biodecarboxylation. The novel photocoupling multi-enzyme nanoreactor has important capabilites for upgrading multi-enzyme programmed catalysis.