Intrinsic Role of Molecular Architectonics in Enhancing the Catalytic Activity of Lead in Glucose Hydrolysis

Lewis acidity plays a key role in the catalytic activity of lead ion (Pb-II) in the hydrolysis of glucose in solution under harsh synthetic conditions. We report a number of structurally similar D-gluconamide amphiphiles as functional organic ligands with active an -NH center capable of coordinating Pb-II (viz., Pb-II-N-C) in basic condition to enhance the catalytic efficiency through the scheme of molecular architectonics. Amphiphiles with different hydrophobic unit form assembly-architectures with a varying second coordination sphere around the active metal ion center. As a result, the active Pb-II center in each architecture exhibits substantially different efficiency toward catalyzing the glucose hydrolysis under ambient temperature. The catalytic performance of the dynamic and reversible gluconamide-Pb-II assembly-architectures are highly dependent on their chemical environments in solution. Further, the active Pb-II center of gluconamide-Pb-II complex in the assembly architecture and dispersed states exhibits distinct outcomes with the former being a superior catalyst than the latter as well as Pb-II alone. The current study demonstrates the potential of molecular architectonics that relies on the hydrophobic units of designer functional amphiphiles to enrich surface electron density with enhanced a-donation ability through space which substantially improves the catalytic efficiency of Pb-II toward glucose hydrolysis at ambient temperature.