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Microalgae as a Source of Sustainability
Published in Pau Loke Show, Wai Siong Chai, Tau Chuan Ling, Microalgae for Environmental Biotechnology, 2023
Pik Han Chong, Jian Hong Tan, Joshua Troop
In the industry of fine chemicals, natural or modified enzymes are utilized in a process called Biocatalysis (same as biotransformation or bioconversion) to enhance or facilitate the production of molecules. Biocatalysis simplifies the operation of production and saves cost, without the need for living organisms, but it requires chemicals as starting materials. Biosynthesis, on the other hand, uses living organisms to convert organic material into fine chemicals from its cheap and natural feedstock. Recombinant DNA technology is widely applied to produce pharmaceuticals including proteins, antibodies, and hormones. Mammalian cell and plant cell cultures are the common two technologies used to produce fine chemicals. However, mammalian cell culture is much more demanding, requiring stringent operating parameters that cost higher with a factor of 105 (Pollak and Vouillamoz 2013). Mammalian cells cultures are also susceptible to the infection risk or contamination by pathogens from humans or animals. On the contrary, due to the lack of plasmodesmata, plant cell cultures have no means to be susceptible to both plant and animal pathogens, thus making plants a safer choice for pharmaceutical manufacturing. Even so, plant cell technology was not efficient enough to become industrially viable (Xu and Zhang 2014; R. B. Santos et al. 2016).
Role of Nanocatalysts in Biofuel Production and Comparison with Traditional Catalysts
Published in Bhaskar Singh, Ramesh Oraon, Advanced Nanocatalysts for Biodiesel Production, 2023
Kamlesh Kumari, Ritu Yadav, Durgesh Kumar, Vijay Kumar Vishvakarma, Prashant Singh, Vinod Kumar, Indra Bahadur
The use of biocatalyst is a method that has solved problems for both humankind and nature. Biocatalysts are used in the production of chemical products, medicines, biofuels, detergents, food additives, biosurfactants, functionalized biological polymers, etc. The first and foremost factor to highlight is the ability to produce high-purity biofuels from low-value materials such as cooking oil, with no soap formation. This factor distinguishes biocatalysts from others. The problems of FFAs and water in raw materials are eradicated by using enzymes as a catalyst. Biofuels obtained from waste oil, beef and pork suet with enzymatic transesterification are considered to be most efficient and this is the reason for the combination of FFAs and enzymatic catalysts, which turn it into alkaline esters. Generally, based on their activity there are two types of enzymatic catalyst: extracellular and intracellular lipases. The factors that contribute in making biocatalysts effective are thermal stability, selectivity, high level of efficiency, etc. Despite such positive aspects, biocatalysts cannot be described as the best option for producing biofuels as the biocatalyst production costs are very much higher and their reaction time is also longer.
Introduction to Heterogeneous Catalysis in Organic Transformation
Published in Varun Rawat, Anirban Das, Chandra Mohan Srivastava, Heterogeneous Catalysis in Organic Transformations, 2022
Garima Sachdeva, Gyandshwar Kumar Rao, Varun Rawat, Ved Prakash Verma, Kaur Navjeet
The reactions in our biological systems are carried out by natural biocatalysts, which are primarily enzymes. Enzymes are natural proteins and can be used to catalyze very specific chemical reactions in a laboratory. They are isolated from animal or plant tissues and microbes such as yeast, bacteria, or fungi. Biocatalysts are notable for their great selectivity and efficiency, as well as for their environmental friendliness and gentle reaction conditions. Nowadays, biocatalysts are an alternative to conventional industrial catalysts. Immobilizing these enzymes on solid supports turns enzymes into heterogeneous solid catalysts, enhancing their activity and stability. It also increases their lifetime, and they can be recycled for many usages [9]. The last two categories of catalysts classification are used arbitrarily and can be merged into other types depending upon the usage and nature of the catalyst.
Transesterification of vegetable oils into biodiesel by an immobilized lipase: a review
Published in Biofuels, 2023
Akossi Moya Joëlle Carole, Kouassi Konan Edmond, Abolle Abollé, Kouassi Esaie Kouadio Appiah, Yao Kouassi Benjamin
Lipases are nature’s sustainable catalysts (or biocatalysts). They are biocompatible and biodegradable, and come from renewable resources. Enzymatic reactions are performed in aqueous or non-aqueous media, at temperatures and pressures close to those of the environment, which allows high rates and selectivities [35, 36]. In addition, there is no need to protect or activate functional groups, and the processes are more economical than conventional processes in terms of the number of steps. They generate less waste and consume less energy. In other words, biocatalytic processes are more cost-effective, have a smaller environmental footprint and are more sustainable than traditional chemicals processes. Biocatalytic process is therefore a biobased economy since it uses only renewable resources and does not depend on fossil raw materials at all. Finally, the ability to recycle the catalyst (the enzyme) multiple times is an additional advantage [36].
Effect of surface charge conditions of carriers on the immobilization of β-d -glucosidase
Published in Preparative Biochemistry & Biotechnology, 2021
Shu Ye, Fan Zhang, Ying Xu, Yun Sun, Benwei Zhu, Fang Ni, Zhi Zhou, Zhong Yao
Biocatalysis using cells or enzymes has been a hot topic in green chemical engineering because it is associated with extraordinary chemo-, regio-, and enantio-selectivity, mild reactive condition, short reaction route, easy separation, and environment friendliness.[1,2] Nowadays, biocatalysis is intensively studied and applied in many industrial sectors, from fine and pharmaceutical chemistry to food and chemical production.[3–6] Nevertheless, natural enzymes are very sensitive to the environments in which they work. Any changes in the catalytic environmental conditions, i.e., temperature, pH value, solution polarity, or ionic strength, may decrease the activity or even irreversibly inactivate natural enzyme; these properties limit the applications of biocatalysts severely.[7]. The past century has witnessed research focused on enzyme immobilization techniques for the improvement of properties of enzyme in harsh environments. Natural as well as recombinant enzymes have been separated and immobilized on solid support material by entrapment, adsorption, covalent bonding, or cross-linking to derive heterogeneous catalysts.[8–11] The use of enzyme immobilization technology helps improve not only the stability and reusability of natural enzymes but also separation of products. Therefore, the methodologies for enzyme immobilization have been intensively studied.[12,13]
Benchmarking green chemistry adoption by the Indian pharmaceutical supply chain
Published in Green Chemistry Letters and Reviews, 2018
Vesela R. Veleva, Berkeley W. Cue, Svetlana Todorova, Harshrajsinh Thakor, Nitesh H. Mehta, Krishna B. Padia
Tucker defines pharmaceutical green chemistry as “the quest for benign synthetic processes that reduce the environmental burden … within the context of enabling the delivery of our current standard of living” (43). He believes GC is driven by efficiency coupled with environmental responsibility. GC calls for the use of renewable chemicals as building blocks and reagents (Principles 7 and 9; see Text Box 1). A recent practice becoming increasingly popular among big companies is biocatalysis, or the process of using enzymes as catalysts in chemical reactions. Enzymes are naturally occurring living organisms often referred to as “nature’s catalysts,” which have been found to reduce costs and risks1. Furthermore, enzymes can help reduce the number of steps and increase reaction throughput leading to a significant reduction in the time to manufacture – in some cases by 80% (44, 45). GC calls for using safer chemicals to minimize accidents (Principle 12) and a common practice in the pharmaceutical industry is the shift to less toxic solvents, which make up more than 80% of the material used for API manufacture and are associated with about 60% of the overall energy use and 50% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (46). Green chemistry also requires energy-efficient design (Principle 6, Text Box 1) and a growing number of pharmaceutical companies have begun to use their carbon footprint as a new green chemistry indicator (13).