OPRD (2024): “Biocatalyst Immobilization and Process Intensification: Production of (S)-Piperazine-2-carboxylic Acid Dihydrochloride”

“Biocatalysis, the use of enzymes to produce chemicals, offers numerous advantages over traditional organic chemistry. The most important ones are the excellent regio-, chemo-, and stereoselectivities that can be achieved, the high functional group tolerance, and the fact that biocatalytic transformations can usually be carried out in pure water. In this work, we have applied […]

Green Chemistry (2024): “Rapid production of the anaesthetic mepivacaine through continuous, portable technology”

Local anaesthetics such as mepivacaine are key molecules in the medical sector, so ensuring their supply chain is crucial for every health care system. Rapid production of mepivacaine from readily available commercial reagents and (non-dry) solvents under safe conditions using portable, continuous apparatus could make an impactful difference in underdeveloped countries. In this work, we […]

Reaction Chemistry and Engineering (2023): “Boosting the catalytic performance of a marine yeast in a SpinChem reactor for the synthesis of perillyl alcohol”

A sustainable approach for the reduction of perillaldehyde to perillyl alcohol (POH) through alginate immobilized yeast cell beads has been here developed. The process was optimized in small-scale batch reactions and then scaled up in a rotating bed reactor (SpinChem®), enhancing productivity while reducing catalyst loading thanks to better mass transfer and catalyst/substrate interaction (i.e., […]

Journal of Flow Chemistry (2023): “Perspective on flow biocatalysis: the engine propelling enzymatic reactions”

Well done Ana on this beautifully written perspective! Abstract: Flow biocatalysis has emerged as an empowering tool to boost the potential of enzymatic reactions towards more automatized, sustainable, and generally efficient synthetic processes. In the last fifteen years, the increasing number of biocatalytic transformations carried out in continuous flow exemplified the benefits that this technology […]

Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry (2023): “Glycosyl Benzoates as Novel Substrates for Glycosynthases” 

Well done to Sabrina (our master student), Lauriane and Davey! Abstract: The development of a procedure for the one-pot synthesis of glycosyl benzoates directly from unprotected sugars in aqueous media using 2-chloro-1,3-dimethylimidazolium chloride (DMC), thiobenzoic acid, and triethylamine is reported. These glycosyl donors are excellent substrates for wild-type and mutant glycosidases.  ß-Glucosyl benzoate was hydrolysed […]

European Journal of Organic Chemistry (2023): “Investigations into the Aqueous Synthesis of Selenoglycoconjugates”

Great achievement for Davey who is also co-corresponding author in this paper! Abstract: Glycosylation of bioactive molecules has been found to improve the pharmacokinetic properties of the parent molecule. However, their syntheses often require tedious protecting group manipulations. The development of methodologies which allow direct aqueous conversion of unprotected sugars into glycosides is therefore an […]

Frontiers in Catalysis (2023): “Sustainable synthesis of L-phenylalanine derivatives in continuous flow by immobilized phenyl ammonia lyase”

Great work from David in collaboration with Novartis! Abstract: The application of phenylalanine ammonia lyases (PALs) for the amination of a variety of cinnamic acids has been shown to be a cost-efficient method to produce a variety of phenylalanine analogues. Nonetheless, as many other biocatalytic tools, the process intensification, especially due to the high equivalents […]

Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology (2023): “Halomonas elongata: a microbial source of highly stable enzymes for applied biotechnology”

A super review from Ana on the wonders of enzymes from H. elongata. Abstract: Extremophilic microorganisms, which are resistant to extreme levels of temperature, salinity, pH, etc., have become popular tools for biotechnological applications. Due to their availability and cost-efficacy, enzymes from extremophiles are getting the attention of researchers and industries in the field of […]

ChemBioChem (2023): “Bioinformatic analysis of immobilized enzymes: towards a better understanding of the guiding forces”

David applied CapiPy to a set of enzymes to validate its applicability.  Abstract: Protein bioinformatics has been applied to a myriad of opportunities in biocatalysis, from enzyme engineering to enzyme discovery, but its application in enzyme immobilization is still very limited. Enzyme immobilization brings clear advantages form the sustainability and cost-efficiency terms but is nowadays […]