A team led by Professor Cai Tao from Wuhan University’s College of Chemistry and Molecular Sciences recently published their latest study in Angewandte Chemie International Edition.

The study, Conjugated Microporous Polymers Bearing Poly (acrylic acid) Brushes: Site-Specific Rhodium Immobilization for Efficient and Enzyme-Compatible Photocatalytic NADH Regeneration, presents a novel photocatalytic system based on conjugated microporous polymers (CMPs).

The team grafted poly (acrylic acid) (PAA) polymer brushes onto the surface of CMPs to create a cPTT-P-Rh* system, achieving multiple functional integrations. The hydrophilic brushes confer excellent water dispersibility and stability, while the brush layer provides stable anchoring points that use electrostatic interactions to immobilize Rh*, preventing free species from causing enzyme deactivation.

The brush structure also serves as a conductive pathway to enhance electron transfer and physically shields photogenerated holes, thereby protecting enzyme activity.

Experimental results demonstrate that, under low-power illumination with a 10 W 460 nm LED, the system achieved an impressive 87.7 percent conversion rate of NADH regeneration within just 15 minutes, producing the 1,4-NADH isomer with a turnover frequency (TOF) of 93.3 h⁻¹, the highest reported under similar conditions.

Post-catalysis, the enzyme activity retention rate was 76.8 percent, and circular dichroism confirmed that the enzyme's secondary structure remained intact.