Industrial Biocatalysis

Biocatalysis has become an essential tool in the chemical industry and is the core of industrial biotechnology, also known as white biotechnology, making use of biocatalysts in terms of enzymes or whole cells in chemical processes as an alternative to chemical catalysts. This shift can be seen in the many areas of daily life where biocatalysts—with their environmentally friendly properties—are currently employed. Drivers are the big societal challenges resulting from concerns about the global climate change and the need for an assured energy supply. Modern biocatalysis relies to a large extent on the tremendous advances in the so-called omics techniques and the structural elucidation of biomolecules, which have led to synthetic biology and metabolic engineering as new research fields with high application potential for the rational design of enzymes and microbial production strains. In this book, renowned scientists discuss the actual developments in these research fields together with a variety of application-oriented topics.

Biocatalysts: global market, industrial applications, aspects of biotransformation design and societal challenges Making use of newly discovered enzymes and pathways: reaction and process development strategies for synthetic applications with recombinant whole-cell biocatalysts and metabolically engineered production strains. Directed evolution of enzymes for industrial biocatalysis Strategies to overcome constraints in enzyme evolution and facilitate effective enzyme engineering Production of functional isoprenoids through pathway engineering Metabolic engineering for the bio-based conversion of CO2 to biofuels Mixed microbial cultures for industrial biotechnology: success, chance, and challenges Extremophiles and their use in biofuel synthesis Industrial applications of halophilic microorganisms Non-pathogenic Pseudomonas strains as a platform for industrial biocatalysis Use of Corynebacterium glutamicum for the production of high-value chemicals from new carbon sources. Applications of enzymes in industrial biodiesel production Promiscuous biocatalysts: Applications for synthesis from the laboratory to industrial scale Micro-magnetic porous and non-porous biocatalyst carriers Robust enzyme preparations for industrial applications Hydrolases in non-conventional media: Implications for industrial biocatalysis Enreductases from cyanobacteria for industrial biocatalysis Cytochrome P450 biocatalysts: current applications and future prospects Laccases: green biocatalysts for greener applications Lipase-catalyzed epoxidation of fatty compounds and alkenes Synthetic potential of dihydroxyacetone uilizing aldolases The hydantoinase process: recent developments for the production of non-canonical amino acids. Biotechnological approaches to dipeptide production Synthetic enzyme cascades for valuable diols and amino alcohols: smart composition and optimization strategies Metabolic engineering for the biosynthesis of longevity molecules rapamycin and resveratrol. Detergent proteases Industrial starch processing Algae: a rich source of energy and high-value products Enzyme-catalyzed processes in a potential algal biorefinery Biocatalytic synthesis of polymers: a contribution to green chemistry Bio-based chemicals and materials

Peter Grunwald studied chemistry at the University of Saarbrücken and the University of Hamburg, Germany, where he graduated in the field of high-frequency spectroscopy, and then became a staff member of the Institute of Physical Chemistry. After receiving his PhD in physical chemistry from the Department of Chemistry at the University of Hamburg, he founded a biotechnology research group. He was appointed professor in 2001. His research interests focus on the preparation and properties of immobilized enzymes, kinetics of enzymes in organic solvents, and interactions between biocatalysts and heavy metal ions. Prof. Grunwald is also interested in chemical education, including curriculum development.