BIONEXGEN

Developing the Next Generation of Biocatalysts for Industrial Chemical Synthesis

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'BIONEXGEN will develop the next generation of biocatalysts to be used for eco-efficient manufacturing processes in the chemical industry. A collaboration by industrial and academic partners have identified the key technology fields of amine synthesis, polymers from renewable resources, glycoscience and wider oxidase application as four key areas where the next generation of biocatalysts that will lead to improvements in both economic and environmental performance of the chemical manufacturing industries. This project will enable industry to use renewable resources with reduced greenhouse gas production as compared to their fossil counterparts and deliver biotechnological routes with reduced energy consumption and less toxic wastes compared to conventional chemical processes. Routes to specialised, high-value chemicals (e.g. chiral chemical compounds) normally require long chemical synthetic routes involving complex reaction steps with toxic side products and waste streams and this project will allow these methods to be replaced by clean biocatalysis routes. To broaden the range of fine and speciality chemicals and intermediates produced by biotechnological routes, research will address: (i) design and optimisation of enzymes to be used in synthetic chemistry, (ii) the selection/development of modified microorganisms which are resistant to heat, pressure or low pH when used in the production of chemical entities and allow (iii) the integration of biotechnological steps into conventional chemical processes. The project will develop and integrate with chemical steps the biotechnological manufacturing routes for the synthesis of fine and speciality chemicals especially amines, oligosaccharides and renewable polymer intermediates which are better in terms of eco-efficiency, economic potential, complexity and /or specificity of the synthetic pathways than those currently employed. Dissemination strategy will enhance the impact of this work through three separate initiatives. Economic viability and eco-efficiency will be evaluated and assessed on a quantitative basis and these results will be published in the scientific literature. Green chemistry initiatives in the BIONEXGEN project and the FP7 contributions will be presented to the wider public on a project website and through material displays at the museum in Manchester and the Big Saturday event in Manchester Science Week. An overall end of project meeting in Brussels will invite a range of political decision makers and industry leaders to attend and will ensure maximum impact. The project was devised with a strong involvement of industrial partners, in particular SMEs and is strength of this project and will contribute significantly to ensure application of the technology. This combination of technical will lead to the development of new green chemical manufacturing technology platforms that will be tested for specific targets in the European chemical manufacturing industries and use these as case studies for dissemination on a broad front.'

Introduzione (Teaser)

A consortium of research groups and companies has identified enzymes and enzymatic processes that can be exploited for eco-friendly chemical synthesis.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

Synthetic chemicals are used to produce everything from fertilisers and detergents to processed foods, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. The chemical synthesis industry is huge, and production is expensive and time consuming, and often leads to toxic waste streams.

Scientists initiated the EU-funded 'Developing the next generation of biocatalysts for industrial chemical synthesis' (BIONEXGEN) project to create more eco-efficient manufacturing processes, based on the use of natural enzymes. The consortium has identified four classes of reactions where the biocatalysts can contribute to a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, energy consumption and toxic waste.

Amines are used to produce pharmaceuticals, polymers, specialty chemicals and agrochemicals. Scientists developed libraries of enzymes that produce amines, and identified the most promising ones for commercial use.

Polymers, most of which are derived from fossil fuels, account for the majority of chemical products on the market. Scientists identified novel biological building blocks (monomers) to yield polymers with enhanced properties. Several new routes for the synthesis of polymers were discovered using a number of novel enzymes.

Production of glycosides and oligosaccharides is one of the most challenging areas of organic synthesis. Scientists identified new enzymes for synthesis of oligosaccharides, and developed an oligosaccharide production method that uses starch as a renewable raw material.

Oxidases are enzymes that can remove potentially dangerous oxidising agents. Investigators synthesised a variety of substrates and used them to show successful oxidation of a range of industrially relevant compounds.

The consortium also developed enabling technologies such as fermentation methods, enzyme immobilisation and a method to aggregate functional enzymes. In addition, BIONEXGEN created a process technology handbook cataloguing the methods developed by project researchers.

BIONEXGEN is expected to have a lasting impact on the EU industrial chemical and biotechnology sectors by providing novel enzyme-based chemical manufacturing processes. Integrating project findings into conventional chemical processes will reduce emissions, energy consumption and toxic waste.