Using Light Energy to Convert Carbon Dioxide into a Parkinson's Disease Treatment

Professor Hong Seok-yeon’s GIST Team Develops Technology for Conversion of Non-natural Gamma-Amino Acids

A reaction that converts carbon dioxide into non-natural gamma amino acids using light energy. Image courtesy of GIST

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] A technology has been developed that uses light energy to convert carbon dioxide, a substance causing climate change, into a treatment for central nervous system diseases such as Parkinson's disease.

The research team led by Professor Hong Seok-won at Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST) announced on the 17th that they developed a technology to convert carbon dioxide into non-natural gamma-aminobutyric acid, a high value-added substance, in an eco-friendly way using light energy. Gamma-aminobutyric acid is a major inhibitory neurotransmitter in the brain and is used as a treatment for central nervous system diseases such as Parkinson's disease and Huntington's disease.

Since non-natural gamma-aminobutyric acid does not exist in nature, it can only be obtained through synthesis, but existing methods had drawbacks such as multi-step reactions or relatively high toxicity and waste generation.

The research team succeeded in selectively obtaining non-natural gamma-aminobutyric acid with up to 96% yield by dual-functionalizing carbon dioxide and amines on allenes (a hydrocarbon compound with a unique form of unsaturation)?an organic substance with potential?using a light-responsive iridium catalyst.

Professor Hong Seok-won said, “The synthesized non-natural gamma-aminobutyric acid is a previously unknown substance and has infinite potential to be used as a material for various central nervous system disorder treatments through additional processing,” adding, “It is significant that greenhouse gas carbon dioxide can be converted into pharmaceutical candidate substances using visible light.”

The results of this research were selected as the cover paper of ‘Organic Letters,’ a top 7% journal in the fields of chemistry and organic science, and were published online on the 29th of last month.