ERUDESP

Development of Electrochemical Reactors Using Dehydrogenases for Enantiopure Synthon Preparations

 Partecipanti

Mappa

 Word cloud

Esplora la "nuvola delle parole (Word Cloud) per avere un'idea di massima del progetto.

 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'The aim of the project is the development of electrochemical reactors for the manufacture of fine chemicals with dehydrogenases as a process with almost zero waste emission. The production of enantio pure compounds with high EE’s can be achieved by using dehydrogenases as biocatalysts, because they express high enantio selectivity in ketone reduction, combined with broad substrate spectra by some of these enzymes. These proteins will be engineered for improved catalytic performance using the tools of molecular evolution, modelling, structure prediction, and crystallography. As these dehydrogenases typically require cosubstrate regeneration by aid of a second enzymatic reaction, we are looking for the alternative solution of an electrochemical approach for the regeneration of reduced cofactors. If all active compounds can be functionally immobilized on the electrode surface the constructed reactor would convert the educt in the input flow to the product in the output flow avoiding any contaminations. All necessary components like the mediator, the cofactor and the dehydrogenase will be bound to nano or meso structured electrodes (for increased active surface area) resulting in biofunctionalised surfaces with tailored properties at the nanoscale. Optimization of the electrode materials and surfaces, of the mediators and the required spacers as well as the surface bound dehydrogenase activities will result in electrochemical reactor moduls which can deliver enantio pure synthons for desired compounds in pharmaceutical or agrochemical applications. The obtained data will increase our knowledge on nanostructured catalysts and inorganic-organic hybrid systems. Cheap cofactor regeneration, easy product purification, high selectivity and avoidance of organic solvents will be the advantages of such processes to satisfy the demands of green chemistry in respect of environmentally friendly, flexible and energy efficient productions.'

Introduzione (Teaser)

EU-funded scientists are developing highly selective synthetic chemistry routes employing miniaturised reactors with immobilised biological enzymes to produce fine chemicals useful in food and pharmaceutical industries.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

Chemical synthesis is a tricky business. The multiple steps leading from reactants to final product can result in the production of numerous compounds of little use to the chemical designer. These must then be removed to achieve high purity of the compound of interest. One of the most likely co-products of chemical synthesis is the enantiomer (or mirror image) of a compound. Despite similiarities, the enantiomers have little or no activity in the targeted application.

Dehydrogenases are protein enzymes that catalyse the removal of hydrogen atoms in an enantio-selective way. EU-funded scientists are exploiting dehydrogenases in a system relying on hydrogen ion exchange for the reduction of ketones to alcohols. The project 'Development of electrochemical reactors using dehydrogenases for enantiopure synthon preparations' (ERUDESP) is using an electrochemical process to regenerate intermediates (co-factors). The entire system is immobilised on the electrode surface of a nano-structured mini-reactor to convert virtually all inputs to outputs without contamination or loss.

During the second reporting period, scientists developed and up-scaled efficient immobilisation techniques for catalytically active species, chemical mediators and co-factors at the electrode surface. A micro-reactor cell was tested with a full-scale porous electrode for conversion of sorbitol to fructose, exhibiting higher currents than previously ever recorded for such a set up. In addition, a new multi-cell array was designed, manufactured and validated, and electro-coating methods were up-scaled.

Several kinds of bioelectrocatalytic systems were manufactured and tested. As the project was extended to include electroenzymatic oxidation in addition to reduction, the demonstrator has been suitably modified and calibrated. Test cases included the production of low-calorie sweeteners and molecules relevant to the pharmaceutical industry.

The final bioelectrochemical reactor represents a functional and highly selective system for oxidation and reduction reactions dependent on the choice of immobilised enzymes. ERUDESP technology should find widespread application in the selective production of fine chemicals with very high purity and virtually no waste emission.