Cover Feature: Eutectogels as Promising Materials in Biocatalysis (ChemCatChem 12/2024)

Abstract

The Cover Feature shows an overview of work presented in the Perspective article by Ana Beloqui, Matias L. Picchio, and co-workers summarizing innovative hybrid soft materials combining eutectogels and enzymes with tremendous potential in several biocatalytic, biomedical, and biosensing applications. It demonstrates the protection of enzymes using eutectogels similar to how an anemone envelops and protects the clownfish, giving it resistance to some toxins. The image also represents the danger of being outside the gel (anemone) referring protein denaturation. Corals and elongated red tentacles in the image represent polymers. Some corals have hexagonal ring structures with radicals, which relate to polymer structure. The life cycle of the anemone is used to explain the formation of a deep eutectic solvent (DES), through the analogy of bubbles joining and forming a larva. Each jellyfish gamete in this case would be a component of the DES, and by joining them, they would give rise to the DES represented by the anemone. More information can be found in the Perspective article by K. Kumar et al. (DOI: 10.1002/cctc.202400204).