Development of microreactors with surface-immobilized biocatalysts for continuous transamination

Synergy of Microtechnology and Biotechnology: Microreactors as an Effective Tool for Biotransformation Processes

“…The same group, using the same enzyme, made a comparison between different immobilization techniques comparing the covalent immobilization (surface silanization followed by glutaraldehyde bonding – three-step immobilization), the use of fused N-SBM-ATA-wt complex (one-step method) and covalent E. coli cell overexpressing ATA-wt immobilization. Comparing the results, fused complex gave overall better results, meaning higher enzyme loading and productivity than covalent enzyme immobilization ( 82 ). Valikhani et al ( 83 ) managed to obtain two-fold higher enzyme effectiveness by combining the enzyme and the mentioned module.…”

The rise of continuous flow biocatalysis – fundamentals, very recent developments and future perspectives

“…36 Worth to mention is also the recently published special issues devoted to microreactors in biotechnology. [37][38][39][40][41][42] Additionally, a very recent review article was published by Hughes dealing with applications of flow chemistry in the pharmaceutical industry focusing in the patent literature, 43 whereas Lee et al emphasized on the translation of the pharmaceutical manufacturing from batch to flow, 44 and Baumann et al concentrate on the perspectives of continuous flow chemistry in the pharmaceutical industry. 45 Monbaliu and co-workers summarize the impact of continuous flow on platform-chemicals derived from biomass.…”

The Promises and the Challenges of Biotransformations in Microflow

“…Packed‐bed reactors were used also for medium engineering, where various organic and also deep eutectic solvents (DES) were efficiently tested at various temperatures. Besides, microreactors of a few microliter volumes with surface‐immobilized biocatalysts, with hydrogels or with porous resins containing biocatalysts were found to be very efficient for process parameters optimization and selection of the biocatalyst form. Recently, magnetic field‐based microreactors with up to 1 µL volumes were developed enabling multiparametric and automated testing of enzyme activity and stability at various process conditions .…”

“…Elimination of high‐throughput process parameters strongly depends on the integration of process analytics in microfluidic toolboxes, such as UV/Vis, infrared (IR), near infrared spectroscopy (NIR), mass spectrometry (MS) or Raman spectroscopy, as well as NMR . Monitoring of substrate/product concentration at the outlet from the microreactor using high‐performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) or HPLC‐MS enabled quenching and dilution, or injection of internal standards using the switching valves. Apart from frequently used fluorescence microscopy, thermal lens microscopy allows for ultra precise detection of single molecules in liquids based on optical absorption measurements, also enabling on‐line model validation of molecular transport in a liquid–liquid microflow .…”