During the past decade biocatalysis in non-conventional media has gained a lot of interest. Especially in the field of bio-organic synthesis, where poorly water-soluble substrates and products are involved, these media are very attractive.Non-conventional media generally consist of an apolar solvent phase and an aqueous phase. In this thesis, mixtu...
Applied Sciences
Published in Biotechnology Annual Review
Enzymes synthesized by thermophiles (organisms with optimal growth temperatures >60°C) and hyperthermophiles (optimal growth temperatures >80°C) are typically thermostable (resistant to irreversible inactivation at high temperatures) and thermophilic (optimally active at high temperatures, i.e., >60°C). These enzymes, called thermozymes, share cata...
Microbial processes for industrial production of commodity chemicals are rapidly gaining practical significance for preparation of high purity products, in an environmentally acceptable manner, while realizing energy savings. The use of bacterial nitrile hydratase for industrial production of the important chemical, acrylamide, was recently pioneer...
Published in Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society
The ethanolysis of sunflower oil (SFO) with Lipozyme (immobilizéd 1,3-specific Mucor miehei lipase) in a medium solely composed of substrates was investigated. The effects of oil/ethanol molar ratio, temperature, added water content, and amount of enzyme were analyzed. The optimal values were, respectively, 1:3, 50°C, 0% (vol/vol), and 0.4 g of Lip...
A critical opinion is advanced on the merits of multidisciplinary ventures in synthetic organic chemistry. In particular, the concept of a "tool box" of methodologies available for effective solutions to problems in organic synthesis is analyzed in the context of available examples from the literature as well as from the ongoing projects in our res...
Published in Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society
Chiral intermediates were prepared by biocatalytic processes for the chemical synthesis of β-3-receptor agonists. These include: (i) the microbial reduction of 4-benzyloxy-3-methanesulfonylamino-2′-bromoacetophenone 1 to the corresponding (R)-alcohol 2 by Spingomonas paucimobilis SC 16113. In the biotransformation process, a reaction yield of >85% ...
Published in Biotechnology Techniques
The kinetic parameters of E.coli β-galactosidase were not altered by the addition of 2-propanol or ethyl acetate (1.6% v/v). While ethylene glycol (1.6% v/v) doubled the values of both KM (0.29 mM) and kcat (1393 s−), tetraethyleneglycol-dimethylether (Tetraglyme,1.6% v/v) preserved KM, but decreased kcat. At 50°C all the cosolvents dramatically sh...
Published in Biotechnology Letters
Biocatalytic hydration of 3-methyl- or 3-ethyl-2-butenolide with resting cells of Rhodococcus rhodochrous ATCC 17895 gave the corresponding (R)-3-hydroxy-3-alkylbutanolide in moderate yield and with ≥95% e.e. © Rapid Science Ltd. 1998
