Spin-enhanced electrosynthesis of amino acids on oxide-derived chiral bismuth nanohelices

Spin-enhanced electrosynthesis of amino acids on oxide-derived chiral bismuth nanohelices | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Spin-enhanced electrosynthesis of amino acids on oxide-derived chiral bismuth nanohelices Chuang Zhang, Yantao Yang, Yufeng Li, Bojun Shi, Lixin Xu, Xi Wang, and 2 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8549248/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Electrochemical synthesis of amino acids from waste-derived nitrate and biomass-sourced α-keto acids represents a sustainable approach, but its efficiency is fundamentally constrained by hydrogenation steps associated with spin-state reconfiguration during NO 3 ⁻ to NH 2 OH conversion. Herein, chiral bismuth oxide nanohelices are prepared through cysteine-induced symmetry breaking and cathodically converted into oxide-derived chiral bismuth nanohelices (CBNs). These CBNs function as highly efficient spin filters, enabling spin-polarized electron transfer that promotes spin-matched hydrogenation pathways. The spin polarization of CBNs aligns the unpaired electron of adsorbed *NO in spin-antiparallel configuration via exchange interactions and facilitates the formation of spin-polarized H species, cooperatively lowering the kinetic barrier for the key *NO + H → *NHO step and accelerating *NH 2 OH formation. Consequently, L-CBNs achieve a Faradaic efficiency of 81% and a yield rate of 1120 µmol h⁻ 1 cm⁻ 2 for glycine electrosynthesis from NO 3 ⁻ and glyoxylic acid, surpassing achiral bismuth nanorods (ABNs) and most reported catalysts. The strategy further generalizes the synthesis of multiple amino acids from diverse α-keto acids. Our findings underscore the potential of chiral catalysts to modulate spin-dependent reaction kinetics and indicate that chirality-induced spin polarization is a viable strategy for enhancing amino acid electrosynthesis. Physical sciences/Chemistry/Catalysis/Electrocatalysis Physical sciences/Materials science/Materials for energy and catalysis Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files SupplementaryInfo.docx Supplementary Info Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8549248","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":580244001,"identity":"31b02da3-6711-40f7-8eaf-1c190a8fc2c0","order_by":0,"name":"Chuang 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Portfolio","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":false,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8549248/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8549248/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eElectrochemical synthesis of amino acids from waste-derived nitrate and biomass-sourced α-keto acids represents a sustainable approach, but its efficiency is fundamentally constrained by hydrogenation steps associated with spin-state reconfiguration during NO \u003csub\u003e3 \u003c/sub\u003e⁻ to NH \u003csub\u003e2 \u003c/sub\u003eOH conversion. Herein, chiral bismuth oxide nanohelices are prepared through cysteine-induced symmetry breaking and cathodically converted into oxide-derived chiral bismuth nanohelices (CBNs). These CBNs function as highly efficient spin filters, enabling spin-polarized electron transfer that promotes spin-matched hydrogenation pathways. The spin polarization of CBNs aligns the unpaired electron of adsorbed *NO in spin-antiparallel configuration via exchange interactions and facilitates the formation of spin-polarized H species, cooperatively lowering the kinetic barrier for the key *NO + H → *NHO step and accelerating *NH \u003csub\u003e2 \u003c/sub\u003eOH formation. Consequently, L-CBNs achieve a Faradaic efficiency of 81% and a yield rate of 1120 µmol h⁻ \u003csup\u003e1 \u003c/sup\u003ecm⁻\u003csup\u003e2\u003c/sup\u003e for glycine electrosynthesis from NO\u003csub\u003e3\u003c/sub\u003e⁻ and glyoxylic acid, surpassing achiral bismuth nanorods (ABNs) and most reported catalysts. The strategy further generalizes the synthesis of multiple amino acids from diverse α-keto acids. Our findings underscore the potential of chiral catalysts to modulate spin-dependent reaction kinetics and indicate that chirality-induced spin polarization is a viable strategy for enhancing amino acid electrosynthesis.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Spin-enhanced electrosynthesis of amino acids on oxide-derived chiral bismuth nanohelices","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2026-01-27 09:10:42","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8549248/v1","editorialEvents":[],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"nature-communications","isNatureJournal":true,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"NCOMMS","sideBox":"Learn more about [Nature Communications](http://www.nature.com/ncomms/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"https://mts-ncomms.nature.com/","title":"Nature Communications","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"Nature Communications","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"cecea90d-9ce9-46cd-bb49-2367c900506f","owner":[],"postedDate":"January 27th, 2026","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[{"id":61727320,"name":"Physical sciences/Chemistry/Catalysis/Electrocatalysis"},{"id":61727321,"name":"Physical sciences/Materials science/Materials for energy and catalysis"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-02-12T02:05:25+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2026-01-27 09:10:42","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-8549248","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-8549248","identity":"rs-8549248","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}