Biocatalytic chiral amine synthesis coupled with in situ chemocatalytic substrate production

Details

Supervisors

Debecker, Damien P.

Faculty

Faculté des bioingénieurs

Degree label

Master [120] : bioingénieur en chimie et bioindustries, à finalité spécialisée

Abstract

enThis master's thesis addresses a key limitation in the industrial use of transaminases: their inactivation by high substrate concentrations. The proposed solution is a chemoenzymatic cascade reaction where a non-inhibiting compound is used as a starting material and is converted in situ into the ketone substrate for the transaminase. The model reaction developed is the one-pot conversion of 1-phenylethanol to 1-phenylethylamine. This process couples two steps: the selective oxidation of the alcohol, catalyzed by gold nanoparticles on silica (Au/SiO₂), followed by the transamination of the resulting acetophenone. To make these two different catalysts work together, several challenges had to be overcome. A compatibility window was identified, and to mitigate interference, the enzyme was immobilized on a commercial resin. Furthermore, the amine donor concentration was significantly reduced, and enzyme stability was improved by pre-incubating it with its cofactor (PLP).