Reactor and Process Design for Multi-enzymatic Synthesis

Enzyme cascades (which mimic nature) using two or more enzymes sequentially for the synthesis of useful chemical compounds are attracting increasing interest as a potential means of production. Such schemes overcome many of the conventional problems integrating biocatalysis into chemical synthetic schemes, such as changes of media, temperature and pH. In this project, the synthesis of sialic acid derivatives and useful oligosaccharides will be taken as an example for the design of an enzyme cascade. Laboratory scale-down tests will be carried out to characterize the enzymatic systems. Engineering tools for selection of reactors and processes for multi-enzymatic synthesis will be developed.