Characterization of a continuous agitated cell reactor for oxygen dependent biocatalysis.

Biocatalytic oxidation reactions employing molecular oxygen as the electron acceptor are difficult to conduct in a continuous flow reactor because of the requirement for high oxygen transfer rates. In this paper, the oxidation of glucose to glucono-1,5-lactone by glucose oxidase was used as a model reaction to study a novel continuous agitated cell reactor (ACR). The ACR consists of ten cells interconnected by small channels. An agitator is placed in each cell, which mixes the content of the cell when the reactor body is shaken by lateral movement. Based on tracer experiments, a hydrodynamic model for the ACR was developed. The model consisted of ten tanks-in-series with back-mixing occurring within and between each cell. The back-mixing was a necessary addition to the model in order to explain the observed phenomenon that the ACR behaved as two continuous stirred tank reactors (CSTRs) at low flow rates, while it at high flow rates behaved as the expected ten CSTRs in series. The performance of the ACR was evaluated by comparing the steady state conversion at varying residence times with the conversion observed in a stirred batch reactor of comparable size. It was found that the ACR could more than double the overall reaction rate, which was solely due to an increased oxygen transfer rate in the ACR caused by the intense mixing as a result of the spring agitators. The volumetric oxygen transfer coefficient, kL a, was estimated to be 344 h-1 in the 100 mL ACR, opposed to only 104 h-1 in a batch reactor of comparable working volume. Interestingly, the large deviation from plug flow behavior seen in the tracer experiments was found to have little influence on the conversion in the ACR, since both a plug flow reactor (PFR) model and the backflow cell model described the data sufficiently well. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2017;114: 1222-1230. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Development of in situ product removal strategies in biocatalysis applying scaled-down unit operations.

An experimental platform based on scaled-down unit operations combined in a plug-and-play manner enables easy and highly flexible testing of advanced biocatalytic process options such as in situ product removal (ISPR) process strategies. In such a platform, it is possible to compartmentalize different process steps while operating it as a combined system, giving the possibility to test and characterize the performance of novel process concepts and biocatalysts with minimal influence of inhibitory products. Here the capabilities of performing process development by applying scaled-down unit operations are highlighted through a case study investigating the asymmetric synthesis of 1-methyl-3-phenylpropylamine (MPPA) using ω-transaminase, an enzyme in the sub-family of amino transferases (ATAs). An on-line HPLC system was applied to avoid manual sample handling and to semi-automatically characterize ω-transaminases in a scaled-down packed-bed reactor (PBR) module, showing MPPA as a strong inhibitor. To overcome the inhibition, a two-step liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) ISPR concept was tested using scaled-down unit operations combined in a plug-and-play manner. Through the tested ISPR concept, it was possible to continuously feed the main substrate benzylacetone (BA) and extract the main product MPPA throughout the reaction, thereby overcoming the challenges of low substrate solubility and product inhibition. The tested ISPR concept achieved a product concentration of 26.5 gMPPA · L-1 , a purity up to 70% gMPPA · gtot-1 and a recovery in the range of 80% mol · mol-1 of MPPA in 20 h, with the possibility to increase the concentration, purity, and recovery further. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2017;114: 600-609. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Supported liquid membrane as a novel tool for driving the equilibrium of ω-transaminase catalyzed asymmetric synthesis.

An attractive option to produce chiral amines of industrial importance is through asymmetric synthesis using ω-transaminase. However, reaching high yields often requires a strategy for shifting the equilibrium position. This paper describes a novel strategy for handling this problem. It involves the use of a supported liquid membrane (SLM) together with a packed bed reactor. The reactor contains Escherichia coli cells with ω-transaminase from Arthrobacter citreus, immobilized by flocculation with chitosan. The SLM consists of a hollow fibre membrane contactor in which the pores contain undecane. The system enables continuous extraction of the amine product and was used to successfully shift the equilibrium in asymmetric synthesis of (S)-α-methylbenzylamine (MBA). A conversion of 98% was reached, compared to 50% without product extraction. Moreover, a selective extraction of the produced MBA was realized. A high product concentration of 55g/l was reached after 80h, and the system showed promising potential for continuous operation.

Chitosan flocculation: an effective method for immobilization of E. coli for biocatalytic processes.

Immobilization of Escherichia coli cells containing a ω-transaminase was carried out by flocculation with chitosan and the preparation was used in asymmetric synthesis of (S)-4'-cyano-α-methylbenzylamine, recycled in five consecutive batches. Chitosans with different molecular weights and degrees of acetylation were compared and effects of varying the chitosan properties, cell concentration and ratio of cells to chitosan were studied. Immobilization was achieved by increasing the pH to slightly alkaline, which induced the formation of large fast sedimenting flocs. Although an effective immobilization was obtained using most types of chitosan, high molecular weight and low degree of acetylation were considered favourable properties, resulting in good floc stability and quick sedimentation. It was found that it was possible to affect the floc characteristics, by changing the ratio of cells to chitosan in such a way that preparations resembling either entrapped or cross-linked cells could be obtained. The volume of the sedimented preparation decreased approximately 50% when increasing the cell to chitosan ratio from 2 g/g to 10 g/g at a constant amount of cells. Despite very high concentrations of cells (10-100 g cells/g chitosan) in the flocculated preparations, diffusion limitations were minimal. Flocculation with chitosan was considered a simple and effective method for immobilization of E. coli cells for biocatalytic processes.