Telluroxides exhibit hydrolysis capacity

It has long been known that tellurium compounds are rather toxic to living organisms, and tellurium has not been found in natural biomacromolecules to date. The principles of telluride toxicity in biological processes are still controversial partly because of the lack of information on the biochemical features of tellurium. In this contribution, we report our finding for the first time that telluroxides exhibit hydrolysis capacity. For instance, 6,6′-telluroxy-bis(6-deoxy-β-cyclodextrin) acts as a hydrolase mimic and shows a significant rate acceleration of 106 000 for the hydrolysis of 4,4′-dinitrodiphenyl carbonate.