A novel route for anoxygenic polymerization of dopamine via purple photosynthetic bacteria metabolism

Dopamine is an efficient building block to produce a versatile coating polymer able to adhere on a vast repertoire of material surfaces. Polydopamine, a dark-bioinspired polymer, is produced by the self-assembly of the dopamine under aerobic conditions in an alkaline environment. The presence of oxygen is crucial for self-polymerization of dopamine in aqueous solution. In this manuscript we show that is possible to drive the polymerization in absence of oxygen exploiting the metabolism of anaerobic photosynthetic purple bacteria. Graphical Abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.]