PRESS RELEASE (2020/06/11)

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Molecular twist makes one catalyst useful for three hydrogen applications
Taking inspiration from enzymes in nature, this new molecule can assist reactions forhydrogen-based energy generation and fuel production along with hydrogenation, giving new
insight into enzyme mechanisms
Scientists from Kyushu University and Kumamoto University in Japan have developed a newcatalyst capable of assisting three key reactions for using hydrogen in energy and industry.
Inspired by three types of enzymes in nature, this research can help elucidate unknown
relationships among catalysts, paving the way for efficient use of hydrogen gas as a nextgeneration energy source in the future.
Producing only water when used in a fuel cell to generate electricity, hydrogen holds great
promise as a clean energy source to meet environmental challenges faced around the globe.
One key for establishing hydrogen as a next-generation energy source is the development of
catalysts—chemicals that assist and accelerate reactions without being consumed in theprocess—that help use it efficiently.
Catalysts play a role not only in splitting hydrogen molecules to generate electricity in fuel cells
but also in putting hydrogen atoms together to form the fuel. Hydrogen also has manyapplications in the chemical industry, often being attached to molecules through the processof hydrogenation to modify their properties.
Nature has already developed its own set of biological catalysts, known as enzymes, capable ofthese same fundamental reactions. However, each of these three reactions requires a different
type of enzyme, and these hydrogenase enzymes can be grouped by the metals they contain:
an atom each of nickel and iron, two atoms of iron, or a single atom of iron.
Taking inspiration from nature, research teams led by Seiji Ogo from Kyushu University andShinya Hayami from Kumamoto University now report in the journal Science Advances that asingle catalyst can perform all three roles.
“Looking closely at key structures of the three types of hydrogenase enzymes in nature, wewere able to design a molecule that could mimic all of these structures depending on wherehydrogen attaches to it,” said Ogo, professor of Kyushu University’s Department of Chemistry
and Biochemistry.
The catalyst the scientists developed contains nickel and iron as the key metals. Depending onreaction conditions, hydrogen atoms will connect to the molecule in a slightly different way,leading to a twisting of the molecule that puts it in a configuration best suited for one of thethree types of reactions.

While the enzymes in nature rely on different sets of metals to accomplish these reactions, thenewly developed catalyst takes advantage of the molecular twist being enough to switch
between structures similar to those of the three types of enzymes, thereby obtaining similarfunctions without changing the metals.
“In a way, we’ve created a molecule with a steering wheel on it,” explains Ogo. “By turning thesteering wheel and twisting parts of the molecule, we can turn it into three different types ofcatalysts—one for fuel cells, one for hydrogen production, and another for hydrogenation.”“This has allowed us to unravel three functions that were previously intertwined.”
While the molecule may not be suitable for practical applications at present, it points toward
the possibility of developing a single catalyst with multiple uses. More importantly, the better
understanding of the catalytic processes afforded by this molecule can give crucial insight into
natural enzymes and the development of future catalysts for realizing a hydrogen-poweredsociety.
For more information about this research, see “[NiFe], [FeFe], and [Fe] hydrogenase models
from isomers,” Seiji Ogo, Takahiro Kishima, Takeshi Yatabe, Keishi Miyazawa, RyunosukeYamasaki, Takahiro Matsumoto, Tatsuya Ando, Mitsuhiro Kikkawa, Miho Isegawa, Ki-Seok Yoon,and Shinya Hayami, Science Advances, https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aaz8181
This research has been carried out as a part of the research supported by the Japan Scienceand Technology Agency (JST) for CREST Grant Number JPMJCR18R2 and the Ministry ofEducation, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) Grant-in-Aid for Specially Promoted
Research, Grant Number JP26000008, “New Energy Sources from Hydrogenase-Photosynthesis
Models,” by Professor Seiji Ogo and his research group at the Center for Small Molecule Energy(Seiji Ogo, head of the center), Graduate School of Engineering, Kyushu University, as well as
the International Institute for Carbon-Neutral Energy Research (I2CNER, Petros Sofronis,
director of the institute) base of the World Premier International Research Center Initiative(WPI) established by MEXT, and Fukuoka Industry-Academia Symphonicity.

Seiji Ogo

By turning the red, blue, and green positions of one catalyst like turning the steering wheel of a car, asingle molecule can be turned into three types of catalysts for fuel cells, hydrogen production, orhydrogenation. The new insights from this work help unravel relationships between three catalysts thatwere previously intertwined.

[Contact]
Seiji Ogo, Professor
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Graduate School of Engineering
International Institute for Carbon-Neutral Energy Research (WPI-I2CNER)
Kyushu University
Tel: 092-802-2818 Fax: 092-802-2823
E-mail: ogo.seiji.872@m.kyushu-u.ac.jp