Welcome to BioEng
Welcome to the homepage of Center for BioProcess Engineering (BioEng). BioEng is a research group at Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering at Technical University of Denmark.
Our research includes use of enzymes for synthesis of a range of functional and non-functional chemicals, as well as particular emphasis on upgrading of plant material residues. Our focus is on quantification and modeling, on-line monitoring, scale-up, process design and integration of process technology. On this homepage you find information about the group and the work carried out here, publications, courses and vacancies.
Where to find us:
Center for Bioprocess Engineering
Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering
Technical University of Denmark
Søltofts Plads
DTU - Building 229
DK- 2800 Kgs. Lyngby
Phone +45 45 25 28 00
Fax +45 45 88 22 58
http://www.kt.dtu.dk
Head of Center: Professor Anne S. Meyer
().   | | New BioEng research:
Thermodynamically based solvent design for enzymatic saccharide acylation with hydroxycinnamic acids in non-conventional media
Zeuner B, Kontogeorgis GM, Riisager A, Meyer AS.
Abstract: Enzyme-catalyzed synthesis has been widely studied with lipases (EC 3.1.1.3), but feruloyl esterases (FAEs; EC 3.1.1.73) may provide advantages such as higher substrate affinity and regioselectivity in the synthesis of hydroxycinnamate saccharide esters. These compounds are interesting because of their amphiphilicity and antioxidative potential. Synthetic reactions using mono- or disaccharides as one of the substrates may moreover direct new routes for biomass upgrading in the biorefinery. The paper reviews the available data for enzymatic hydroxycinnamate saccharide ester synthesis in organic solvent systems as well as other enzymatic hydroxycinnamate acylations in ionic liquid systems. The choice of solvent system is highly decisive for enzyme stability, selectivity, and reaction yields in these synthesis reactions. To increase the understanding of the reaction environment and to facilitate solvent screening as a crucial part of the reaction design, the review explores the use of activity coefficient models for describing these systems and - more importantly - the use of group contribution model UNIFAC and quantum chemistry based COSMO-RS for thermodynamic predictions and preliminary solvent screening. Surfactant-free microemulsions of a hydrocarbon, a polar alcohol, and water are interesting solvent systems because they accommodate different substrate and product solubilities and maintain enzyme stability. Ionic liquids may provide advantages as solvents in terms of increased substrate and product solubility, higher reactivity and selectivity, as well as tunable physicochemical properties, but their design should be carefully considered in relation to enzyme stability. The treatise shows that thermodynamic modeling tools for solvent design provide a new toolbox to design enzyme-catalyzed synthetic reactions from biomass sources.
Figure : Enzyme-catalyzed direct esterification (1), hydrolysis (2), and transesterification (3) of an alcohol with hydroxycinnamic acids.
Read more: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.nbt.2011.11.011
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