Kinetics and mass transfer analyses of biocatalytic oxygenations and decarboxylations in deep eutectic solvents (kinetics & mass transfer of biocatalysis in DESs)

• Applicant: Professorin Dr.-Ing. Selin Kara
• Subject Area: Biological Process Engineering ; Technical Chemistry
• Term: since 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 528814716

Solvents function as not only reaction space but also reactive media that exert synergistic effects (e.g., catalyst activation/deactivation) and thus significantly affect the biocatalytic performance (macro- and micro-kinetics), substrate specificity, and even selectivity. Deep eutectic solvents become a new favorite for biocatalysis due to their unique assets especially the high degree of tunability that can be customized for certain circumstances. The goal of SP3 is to rationally design and establish efficient biocatalytic reactions with a focus on oxyfunctionalizations and decarboxylations in tailor-made ‘application-specific’ DESs. The solvent-enzyme interactions will be revealed by elucidating the correlation between solvent-related properties and enzyme-related parameters. In addition, several different classes of enzymes, O2-dependent cyclohexanone monooxygenase, H2O2-dependent unspecific peroxygenase, and phenolic acid decarboxylase will be utilized to first gain insights from our systematic analyses, then to generalize the design of biocatalytic reactions involving DESs, and finally to develop a transferable methodology.

• DFG Programme: Research Units
• Subproject of: FOR 5730: Customized Deep Eutectic Solvents for Biocatalysis – a circular approach from molecular interactions to process parameters – (DESMOL2PRO)
• Co-Investigator: Ningning Zhang, Ph.D.