To mimic biological enzyme in catalysis, metal-imidazole-salen complexes were proposed (via DFT calculation) and synthesized in situ within the cavities of Y zeolite. Among the synthesized zeozymes, the Cu-salenIIY exhibited a prominent catalytic efficiency for the selective oxidation of benzyl alcohol. Specifically, the activity and selectivity of the encapsulated catalyst were comparable to those of the free Cu-salenII complex in solution. Furthermore, the high activity and selectivity were preserved during the repeated cycles. The similarity in the initial activity implies that the Cu-salenII complex just resides in the cavity of the zeolite Y, and its intrinsic properties responsible for the catalytic activity keep intact after encapsulation. The confinement of zeolite nanocavities effectively inhibited the dimerization or aggregation of the Cu-salenII complex and prevented the active species from escaping into reaction solution, thus resulting in a remarkably improved in the catalytic reusability and durability.

为了模拟生物酶的催化作用，提出了金属咪唑-salen配合物（通过DFT计算）并原位合成在Y型沸石的腔内。在合成的沸石酶中，Cu-salenIIY对苯甲醇的选择性氧化表现出突出的催化效率。特别地，包封的催化剂的活性和选择性与溶液中的游离Cu-salenII配合物的活性和选择性相当。此外，在重复循环中保留了高活性和选择性。初始活性的相似性暗示Cu-salenII配合物仅存在于沸石Y的腔中，并且其负责催化活性的内在性质在包封后保持完整。沸石纳米腔的限制有效地抑制了铜-salenII配合物的二聚或聚集，并防止了活性物质逸入反应溶液中，