Mimicking Enzymes: Taking Advantage of the Substrate-Recognition Properties of Metalloporphyrins in Supramolecular Catalysis

The present review describes the most relevant advances dealing with supramolecular catalysis in which metalloporphyrins are employed as substrate-recognition sites in the second coordination sphere of the catalyst. The kinetically-labile interaction between metalloporphyrins (typically, those derived from zinc) and nitrogen- or oxygen-containing substrates is energetically comparable to those non-covalent interactions (i.e. hydrogen bonding) found in enzymes enabling substrate-preorganization. Much inspired from this host-guest phenomena, the catalytic systems described in this account display unique activities, selectivities and action modes difficult to reach applying purely covalent strategies.