Funding
Unfunded
Engineering a Bespoke Environment for Biocatalysis Within Ionic Liquid Gels
School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering | PHD
Reference Number
SCCE-2024-012
Application Deadline
None specified
Start Date
None specified
Overview
The methods of synthesis of active pharmaceutical ingredients have been undergoing a revolution over the past decade driven by biocatalysis. Biocatalytic methods have become the most efficient method of functional group transformation, completely solving chemo and stereoselectivity issues encountered by purely chemical routes. Project partners Almac have been at the forefront of this change. Proteins still have a drawback however, their stability is often lower in comparison with chemical reagents, particularly when exposed to organic solvents and reagents
In a 4-year-old collaboration QUB and Almac have been looking at the application of entrapment methods1 to protect the protein from poisoning and denaturing. Enzymes are entrapped into ionic liquid gels.2 Ionic liquids are used to tune the environment around the enzyme and to ensure facile diffusion of the substrate and product.3 The result is the production of immobilized biocatalysts that are simple to operate, separate and recycle.4,5
The research is at an exciting stage, and a range of materials and ionic liquids have been shown to support enzymatic activity and recycling. Moving forward, 21st century methods will be explored such as flow biocatalysis, multi-enzyme cascades and 3D printing. It is anticipated that the main enzyme classes studied will be transaminases and ketone reductases.
The well-established collaboration with Almac provides a number of benefits to the student, including placements to receive first-hand experience of researching in industrial laboratories, frequent meetings with industrial partners, advice on analytical and reaction methods, and receipt of libraries of industrial biocatalysts. Plus, and perhaps most excitingly, the possibility to transfer your results directly into the pharmaceutical industry.
[1] Enzyme entrapment, biocatalyst immobilization without covalent attachment, H. T. Imam, P. C. Marr, A. C.Marr, Green Chem., Green Chem., 2021, 23, 4980–5005.
[2] Ionic liquid gel materials: applications in green and sustainable chemistry, P. C. Marr, A. C. Marr, Green Chem., 2016, 18, 105–128.
[3] Applications of Ionic Liquids in Whole-Cell and Isolated Enzyme Biocatalysis, H.T. Imam, V. Krasňan, M. Rebroš, A. C. Marr, Molecules, 2021, 26, 4791.
[4] Supramolecular Ionic Liquid Gels for Enzyme Entrapment, H. T. Imam, K. Hill, A. Reid, S. Mix, P. C. Marr, A. C. Marr, ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng. 2023, 11, 6829–6837.
[5] Entrapment in HydrIL Gels: Hydro-Ionic Liquid Polymer Gels for Enzyme Immobilization, J. A. Pérez Tomás, R. Brucato, P. Griffin, J. Kostal, G. Brown, S. Mix, Stefan, P. C. Marr, A. C. Marr, SSRN: http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4636612