Electrochemical regeneration of oxidised nicotinamide cofactors in a scalable reactor

Electroenzymatic Reduction of Furfural to Furfuryl Alcohol by an Electron Mediator and Enzyme Orderly Assembled Biocathode

The electroenzymatic valorization of biomass derivatives into valuable biochemicals has a promising outlook. However, bottlenecks including poor electron transfer between the electrode surface and oxidoreductase, inefficient regeneration of cofactors, and high cost of enzymes and electron mediators hindered the realistic applications of the technique. Herein, to address the above technical barriers, a novel bio-electrocatalytic system that integrates the electrochemical NADH regeneration and enzymatic reaction was constructed, using an orderly assembled composite bioelectrode consisting of an outer immobilized enzyme layer and a sandwiched redox mediator rhodium complex layer. The as-prepared composite bioelectrode was further applied for the highly selective hydrogenation of furfural into furfural alcohol. Results indicated that the enzyme activity was significantly improved, while the furfural valorization was promoted by effective interfacial electron transition and co-factor regeneration on the composite bioelectrode. Considerable high furfural conversion (96.4%) can be achieved accompanied by a furfural alcohol selectivity of 90.0% at -1.2 V (vs Ag/AgCl). The novel composite bioelectrode also showed good stability and reusability. Up to 85.1% of the original furfural alcohol selectivity can be preserved after 10 times of recycling. This work presents a promising green alternative for the valorization of furfural, which also shows great potential extending to the valorization of other biomass compounds.

Selective Furfuryl Alcohol Production from Furfural via Bio-Electrocatalysis

The catalytic reduction of renewable furfural into furfuryl alcohol for various applications is in the ascendant. Nonetheless, the conventional chemo-catalysis hydrogenation of furfural always suffers from poor selectivity, harsh conditions, and expensive catalysts. Herein, to overcome the serious technical barriers of conventional furfuryl alcohol production, an alternative bio-electrocatalytic hydrogenation system was established under mild and neutral conditions, where the dissolved cofactor (NADH) and the alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) participated in a tandem reaction driven by the electron from a novel Rh (III) complex fixed cathode. Under the optimized conditions, 81.5% of furfural alcohol selectivity can be realized at −0.43 V vs. RHE. This contribution presents a ‘green’ and promising route for the valorization of furfural and other biomass compounds.

Continuous flow technology-a tool for safer oxidation chemistry

The advantages and benefits of continuous flow technology for oxidation chemistry have been illustrated in tube reactors, micro-channel reactors, tube-in-tube reactors and micro-packed bed reactors in the presence of various oxidants.

Recent advancement in noninvasive glucose monitoring and closed-loop management system for diabetes

Diabetes can cause many complications, which has become one of the most common diseases that may lead to death. Currently, the number of diabetics continues increasing year by year. Thus,...

Advances in biological production of acetoin: a comprehensive overview

Acetoin, a high-value-added bio-based platform chemical, is widely used in foods, cosmetics, agriculture, and the chemical industry. It is an important precursor for the synthesis of: 2,3-butanediol, liquid hydrocarbon fuels and heterocyclic compounds. Since the fossil resources are becoming increasingly scarce, biological production of acetoin has received increasing attention as an alternative to chemical synthesis. Although there are excellent reviews on the: application, catabolism and fermentative production of acetoin, little attention has been paid to acetoin production via: electrode-assisted fermentation, whole-cell biocatalysis, and in vitro/cell-free biocatalysis. In this review, acetoin biosynthesis pathways and relevant key enzymes are firstly reviewed. In addition, various strategies for biological acetoin production are summarized including: cell-free biocatalysis, whole-cell biocatalysis, microbial fermentation, and electrode-assisted fermentation. The advantages and disadvantages of the different approaches are discussed and weighed, illustrating the increasing progress toward economical, green and efficient production of acetoin. Additionally, recent advances in acetoin extraction and recovery in downstream processing are also briefly reviewed. Moreover, the current issues and future prospects of diverse strategies for biological acetoin production are discussed, with the hope of realizing the promises of industrial acetoin biomanufacturing in the near future.

ZnO Materials as Effective Anodes for the Photoelectrochemical Regeneration of Enzymatically Active NAD. ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES 2021;13:10719-10727. [PMID: 33645209 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.0c20630]

This work reports the study of ZnO-based anodes for the photoelectrochemical regeneration of the oxidized form of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD⁺). The latter is the most important coenzyme for dehydrogenases. However, the high costs of NAD⁺ limit the use of such enzymes at the industrial level. The influence of the ZnO morphologies (flower-like, porous film, and nanowires), showing different surface area and crystallinity, was studied. The detection of diluted solutions (0.1 mM) of the reduced form of the coenzyme (NADH) was accomplished by the flower-like and the porous films, whereas concentrations greater than 20 mM were needed for the detection of NADH with nanowire-shaped ZnO-based electrodes. The photocatalytic activity of ZnO was reduced at increasing concentrations of NAD⁺ because part of the ultraviolet irradiation was absorbed by the coenzyme, reducing the photons available for the ZnO material. The higher electrochemical surface area of the flower-like film makes it suitable for the regeneration reaction. The illumination of the electrodes led to a significant increase on the NAD⁺ regeneration with respect to both the electrochemical oxidation in dark and the only photochemical reaction. The tests with formate dehydrogenase demonstrated that 94% of the regenerated NAD⁺ was enzymatically active.

Recent Progress and Perspectives on Electrochemical Regeneration of Reduced Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide (NADH)

NAD is a cofactor that maintains cellular redox homeostasis and has immense industrial and biological significance. It acts as an enzymatic mediator in several biocatalytic electrochemical reactions and undergoes oxidation/reduction to form NAD⁺ or NADH, respectively. The NAD redox couple (NAD⁺ /NADH) mostly exists in enzyme-assisted metabolic reactions as a coenzyme during which electrons and protons are transferred. NADH shuttles these charges between the enzyme and the substrate. In order to understand such complex metabolic reactions, it is vital to study the bio-electrochemistry of NADH. In addition, the regeneration of NADH in industries has attracted significant attention due to its vast usage and high cost. To make biocatalysis economically viable, primary methods of NADH regeneration including enzymatic, chemical, photochemical and electrochemical methods are widely used. This review is mainly focused on the electrochemical reduction of NAD⁺ to NADH with specific details on the mechanism and kinetics of the reaction. It provides emphasis on the different routes (direct and mediated) to electrochemically regenerate NADH from NAD⁺ highlighting the NAD dimer formation. Also, it describes the electrocatalysts developed until now and the scope for development in this area of research.

Enzymatic Bioreactors: An Electrochemical Perspective

Biocatalysts provide a number of advantages such as high selectivity, the ability to operate under mild reaction conditions and availability from renewable resources that are of interest in the development of bioreactors for applications in the pharmaceutical and other sectors. The use of oxidoreductases in biocatalytic reactors is primarily focused on the use of NAD(P)-dependent enzymes, with the recycling of the cofactor occurring via an additional enzymatic system. The use of electrochemically based systems has been limited. This review focuses on the development of electrochemically based biocatalytic reactors. The mechanisms of mediated and direct electron transfer together with methods of immobilising enzymes are briefly reviewed. The use of electrochemically based batch and flow reactors is reviewed in detail with a focus on recent developments in the use of high surface area electrodes, enzyme engineering and enzyme cascades. A future perspective on electrochemically based bioreactors is presented.

Electrochemical asymmetric synthesis of biologically active substances

This review discusses the literature published in the last ten years on electrochemically driven oxidation and reduction reactions utilized in the asymmetric synthesis of biologically active substances.

Enzyme-Based Electrobiotechnological Synthesis

Oxidoreductases are enzymes with a high potential for organic synthesis, as their selectivity often exceeds comparable chemical syntheses. The biochemical cofactors of these enzymes need regeneration during synthesis. Several regeneration methods are available but the electrochemical approach offers an efficient and quasi mass-free method for providing the required redox equivalents. Electron transfer systems involving direct regeneration of natural and artificial cofactors, indirect electrochemical regeneration via a mediator, and indirect electroenzymatic cofactor regeneration via enzyme and mediator have been investigated. This chapter gives an overview of electroenzymatic syntheses with oxidoreductases, structured by the enzyme subclass and their usage of cofactors for electron relay. Particular attention is given to the productivity of electroenzymatic biotransformation processes. Because most electroenzymatic syntheses suffer from low productivity, we discuss reaction engineering concepts to overcome the main limiting factors, with a focus on media conductivity optimization, approaches to prevent enzyme inactivation, and the application of advanced cell designs. Graphical Abstract.

Resting Escherichia coli as Chassis for Microbial Electrosynthesis: Production of Chiral Alcohols

Chiral alcohols constitute important building blocks that can be produced enantioselectively by using nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (phosphate) [NAD(P)H]-dependent oxidoreductases. For NAD(P)H regeneration, electricity delivers the cheapest reduction equivalents. Enzymatic electrosynthesis suffers from cofactor and enzyme instability, whereas microbial electrosynthesis (MES) exploits whole cells. Here, we demonstrate MES by using resting Escherichia coli as biocatalytic chassis for a production platform towards fine chemicals through electric power. This chassis was exemplified for the synthesis of chiral alcohols by using a NADPH-dependent alcohol dehydrogenase from Lactobacillus brevis for synthesis of (R)-1-phenylethanol from acetophenone. The E. coli strain and growth conditions affected the performance. Maximum yields of (39.4±5.7) % at a coulombic efficiency of (50.5±6.0) % with enantiomeric excess >99 % was demonstrated at a rate of (83.5±13.9) μm h^-1 , confirming the potential of MES for synthesis of high-value compounds.

Electrocatalytic Volleyball: Rapid Nanoconfined Nicotinamide Cycling for Organic Synthesis in Electrode Pores

In living cells, redox chains rely on nanoconfinement using tiny enclosures, such as the mitochondrial matrix or chloroplast stroma, to concentrate enzymes and limit distances that nicotinamide cofactors and other metabolites must diffuse. In a chemical analogue exploiting this principle, nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) and NADP⁺ are cycled rapidly between ferredoxin–NADP⁺ reductase and a second enzyme—the pairs being juxtaposed within the 5–100 nm scale pores of an indium tin oxide electrode. The resulting electrode material, denoted (FNR+E2)@ITO/support, can drive and exploit a potentially large number of enzyme‐catalysed reactions.

Synthesis and Biochemical Evaluation of Nicotinamide Derivatives as NADH Analogue Coenzymes in Ene Reductase

Nicotinamide and pyridine-containing conjugates have attracted a lot of attention in research as they have found use in a wide range of applications including as redox flow batteries and calcium channel blockers, in biocatalysis, and in metabolism. The interesting redox character of the compounds' pyridine/dihydropyridine system allows them to possess very similar characteristics to the natural chiral redox agents NAD⁺ /NADH, even mimicking their functions. There has been considerable interest in designing and synthesizing NAD⁺ /NADH mimetics with similar redox properties. In this research, three nicotinamide conjugates were designed, synthesized, and characterized. Molecular structures obtained through X-ray crystallography were obtained for two of the conjugates, thereby providing more detail on the bonding and structure of the compounds. The compounds were then further evaluated for biochemical properties, and it was found that one of the conjugates possessed similar functions and characteristics to the natural NADH. This compound was evaluated in the active enzyme, enoate reductase; like NADH, it was shown to help reduce the C=C double bond of three substrates and even outperformed the natural coenzyme. Kinetic data are reported.

Same but different-Scale up and numbering up in electrobiotechnology and photobiotechnology

Facing energy problems, there is a strong demand for new technologies dealing with the replacement of fossil fuels. The emerging fields of biotechnology, photobiotechnology and electrobiotechnology, offer solutions for the production of fuels, energy, or chemicals using renewable energy sources (light or electrical current e.g. produced by wind or solar power) or organic (waste) substrates. From an engineering point of view both technologies have analogies and some similar challenges, since both light and electron transfer are primarily surface-dependent. In contrast to that, bioproduction processes are typically volume dependent. To allow large scale and industrially relevant applications of photobiotechnology and electrobiotechnology, this opinion first gives an overview over the current scales reached in these areas. We then try to point out the challenges and possible methods for the scale up or numbering up of the reactors used. It is shown that the field of photobiotechnology is by now much more advanced than electrobiotechnology and has achieved industrial applications in some cases. We argue that transferring knowledge from photobiotechnology to electrobiotechnology can speed up the development of the emerging field of electrobiotechnology. We believe that a combination of scale up and numbering up, as it has been shown for several photobiotechnological reactors, may well lead to industrially relevant scales in electrobiotechnological processes allowing an industrial application of the technology in near future.

Continuous flow biocatalysis

The continuous flow synthesis of active pharmaceutical ingredients, value-added chemicals, and materials has grown tremendously over the past ten years. This revolution in chemical manufacturing has resulted from innovations in both new methodology and technology. This field, however, has been predominantly focused on synthetic organic chemistry, and the use of biocatalysts in continuous flow systems is only now becoming popular. Although immobilized enzymes and whole cells in batch systems are common, their continuous flow counterparts have grown rapidly over the past two years. With continuous flow systems offering improved mixing, mass transfer, thermal control, pressurized processing, decreased variation, automation, process analytical technology, and in-line purification, the combination of biocatalysis and flow chemistry opens powerful new process windows. This Review explores continuous flow biocatalysts with emphasis on new technology, enzymes, whole cells, co-factor recycling, and immobilization methods for the synthesis of pharmaceuticals, value-added chemicals, and materials.

Electron Transfer Between Enzymes and Electrodes

Efficient electron transfer between redox enzymes and electrocatalytic surfaces plays a significant role in development of novel energy conversion devices as well as novel reactors for production of commodities and fine chemicals. Major application examples are related to enzymatic fuel cells and electroenzymatic reactors, as well as enzymatic biosensors. The two former applications are still at the level of proof-of-concept, partly due to the low efficiency and obstacles to electron transfer between enzymes and electrodes. This chapter discusses the theoretical backgrounds of enzyme/electrode interactions, including the main mechanisms of electron transfer, as well as thermodynamic and kinetic aspects. Additionally, the main electrochemical methods of study are described for selected examples. Finally, some recent advancements in the preparation of enzyme-modified electrodes as well as electrodes for soluble co-factor regeneration are reviewed. Graphical Abstract.

Towards electroenzymatic processes involving old yellow enzymes and mediated cofactor regeneration

Old yellow enzymes are able to catalyze asymmetric C=C reductions. A mediated electroenzymatic process to regenerate the NADPH in combination with an old yellow enzyme was investigated. Due to the fact that the overall process was affected by a broad set of parameters, a design of experiments (DoE) approach was chosen to identify suitable process conditions. Process conditions with high productivities of up to 2.27 mM/h in combination with approximately 90% electron transfer efficiency were identified.

Carbon nanostructure modified enzyme-catalyzed biosensor for bio-electrochemical NADH regeneration

Carbon nanostructure modified enzyme-catalyzed biosensor with enzyme molecular computer simulation for bio-electrochemical NADH regeneration.