Continuous Separation Of Biotransformation Products

Flow biotransformations are generating much excitement across a wide range of chemical manufacturers because they combine the high selectivity and activity of enzymes, the sustainable use of water, and prospects for much improved productivity. However, the use of water can make separation and isolation of products difficult, so potential benefits are often unrealised. This project in collaboration with Croda Ltd will investigate the continuous flow separation of biotransformation products.

Large energy demands in evaporating water to make concentrated solutions, the need for buffers that results in polluted effluents, or the use of solvents to extract products demand new technology solutions that this project will investigate. Biotransformations often result in making products that are more soluble than the starting materials, eg. esters or amides to acids with lipases and amidases, ketones to alcohols or amines with reductases and aldehydes or acids with oxidases. The full potential of continuous reactions can only be realised with continuous product isolation, and preferably this should avoid organic solvents or methods that reduce the environmental performance. The project builds on exciting work in this area, and the student will be part of a dynamic group that publish widely and work closely with industry, giving the research societal impact.