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Alessandra Basso

Bio: Alessandra Basso is an academic researcher from University of Trieste. The author has contributed to research in topics: Peptide synthesis & Immobilized enzyme. The author has an hindex of 20, co-authored 45 publications receiving 1189 citations.

Papers
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TL;DR: A series of large-scale applications of immobilized enzymes with benefits for the food, chemical, pharmaceutical, cosmetics and medical device industries, some of which have been scarcely reported on previously are presented.

427 citations

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TL;DR: The toxicology of ILs is still unclear and further studies are necessary to assess their sustainability as mentioned in this paper, however, the potential of IL solvents for high value added compounds, such as fragrances, remains unclear.

160 citations

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TL;DR: A computational analysis of the structures of lipase B from Candida antarctica and two penicillin G acylases and PGA, from eukaryotic and prokaryotic sources, respectively, suggests the involvement of the glycan moiety in enzyme-polymer interactions.
Abstract: This study presents a computational analysis of the structures of lipase B from Candida antarctica (CalB) and two penicillin G acylases (PGAs), from eukaryotic and prokaryotic sources, respectively Molecular simulations were used to point out the regions of the enzymes that are prone to interact with immobilisation supports In order to evaluate the accessibility of the active site, the location of the amino acid residues involved in the formation of covalent bonds with the polymers was visualised The mapping of the distribution of hydrophobic and hydrophilic regions on the enzyme surface provided a view of the areas of the protein that can establish either hydrophobic or hydrophilic interactions with the carriers Experimental data obtained from the immobilisation of the enzymes on supports bearing different chemical functionalities suggest the involvement of the glycan moiety in enzyme-polymer interactions In the case of PGA the glycan moiety can constitute an extra site for the covalent linkage of the enzyme on the polymer

50 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: PGA is highly stable in [bmim][PF6] and [BMim][BF4], and catalytic activity, assayed by studying the synthesis of the amide of L-phenylglycine methyl ester with methyl phenylacetate, in these ILS is comparable to that obtained in toluene.

45 citations

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TL;DR: Preliminary experimental data here reported indicate that covalent immobilization of lipase from Pseudomonas cepacia performed in the presence of hydrophobic solvent allows one to achieve a more than 10-fold increase in immobilization yield as compared to similar protocols performed in simple aqueous buffer.
Abstract: Conformational changes occurring to the open form of five different lipases were studied by means of molecular dynamic simulations in explicit water. The conformational changes indicate remarkable differences among the lipases considered, not only in terms of accessibility of the active site but also of modification of the geometry of the catalytic machinery. Lipase B from Candida antarctica undergoes minor conformational change at either level, so that it appears to be the most suitable lipase for being applied and formulated in aqueous environments or other hydrophilic media. On the other side, lipase from Pseudomonas cepacia undergoes the most relevant conformational variations both at the level of the catalytic triad and the residues involved in the oxyanion stabilization, suggesting that its “interfacial activation” is not simply related to a variation of the accessibility of the active site. Indeed, preliminary experimental data here reported indicate that covalent immobilization of lipase from Pseudomonas cepacia performed in the presence of hydrophobic solvent allows one to achieve a more than 10-fold increase in immobilization yield as compared to similar protocols performed in simple aqueous buffer. On the contrary, the benefit coming from immobilizing lipase B from Candida antarctica in hydrophobic solvent appears more limited (two-fold higher immobilization yield).

44 citations


Cited by
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Dehydroisomerization of Limonene and Terpenes To Produce Cymene 2481 4.2.1.
Abstract: 3.2.3. Hydroformylation 2467 3.2.4. Dimerization 2468 3.2.5. Oxidative Cleavage and Ozonolysis 2469 3.2.6. Metathesis 2470 4. Terpenes 2472 4.1. Pinene 2472 4.1.1. Isomerization: R-Pinene 2472 4.1.2. Epoxidation of R-Pinene 2475 4.1.3. Isomerization of R-Pinene Oxide 2477 4.1.4. Hydration of R-Pinene: R-Terpineol 2478 4.1.5. Dehydroisomerization 2479 4.2. Limonene 2480 4.2.1. Isomerization 2480 4.2.2. Epoxidation: Limonene Oxide 2480 4.2.3. Isomerization of Limonene Oxide 2481 4.2.4. Dehydroisomerization of Limonene and Terpenes To Produce Cymene 2481

5,127 citations

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TL;DR: Some recent examples where dynamic covalent chemistry has been demonstrated are shown to emphasise the basic concepts of this area of science.
Abstract: Dynamic covalent chemistry relates to chemical reactions carried out reversibly under conditions of equilibrium control. The reversible nature of the reactions introduces the prospects of "error checking" and "proof-reading" into synthetic processes where dynamic covalent chemistry operates. Since the formation of products occurs under thermodynamic control, product distributions depend only on the relative stabilities of the final products. In kinetically controlled reactions, however, it is the free energy differences between the transition states leading to the products that determines their relative proportions. Supramolecular chemistry has had a huge impact on synthesis at two levels: one is noncovalent synthesis, or strict self-assembly, and the other is supramolecular assistance to molecular synthesis, also referred to as self-assembly followed by covalent modification. Noncovalent synthesis has given us access to finite supermolecules and infinite supramolecular arrays. Supramolecular assistance to covalent synthesis has been exploited in the construction of more-complex systems, such as interlocked molecular compounds (for example, catenanes and rotaxanes) as well as container molecules (molecular capsules). The appealing prospect of also synthesizing these types of compounds with complex molecular architectures using reversible covalent bond forming chemistry has led to the development of dynamic covalent chemistry. Historically, dynamic covalent chemistry has played a central role in the development of conformational analysis by opening up the possibility to be able to equilibrate configurational isomers, sometimes with base (for example, esters) and sometimes with acid (for example, acetals). These stereochemical "balancing acts" revealed another major advantage that dynamic covalent chemistry offers the chemist, which is not so easily accessible in the kinetically controlled regime: the ability to re-adjust the product distribution of a reaction, even once the initial products have been formed, by changing the reaction's environment (for example, concentration, temperature, presence or absence of a template). This highly transparent, yet tremendously subtle, characteristic of dynamic covalent chemistry has led to key discoveries in polymer chemistry. In this review, some recent examples where dynamic covalent chemistry has been demonstrated are shown to emphasise the basic concepts of this area of science.

1,880 citations

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TL;DR: Roger Sheldon developed the concepts of E factors and atom utilization for assessing the environmental impact of chemical processes, particularly in relation to fine chemicals production.
Abstract: Roger Sheldon (1942) received a PhD in organic chemistry from the University of Leicester (UK) in 1967. This was followed by post-doctoral studies with Prof. Jay Kochi in the U.S. From 1969 to 1980 he was with Shell Research in Amsterdam and from 1980 to 1990 he was R&D Director of DSM Andeno. In 1991 he moved to his present position as Professor of organic chemistry and catalysis at the Delft University of Technology (The Netherlands). His primary research interests are in the application of catalytic methodologies—homogeneous, heterogeneous and enzymatic—in organic synthesis, particularly in relation to fine chemicals production. He developed the concepts of E factors and atom utilization for assessing the environmental impact of chemical processes.

1,567 citations

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TL;DR: The advantages and disadvantages of the different existing immobilization strategies to solve the different aforementioned enzyme limitations are given and some advice to select the optimal strategy for each particular enzyme and process is given.
Abstract: Enzyme biocatalysis plays a very relevant role in the development of many chemical industries, e.g., energy, food or fine chemistry. To achieve this goal, enzyme immobilization is a usual pre-requisite as a solution to get reusable biocatalysts and thus decrease the price of this relatively expensive compound. However, a proper immobilization technique may permit far more than to get a reusable enzyme; it may be used to improve enzyme performance by improving some enzyme limitations: enzyme purity, stability (including the possibility of enzyme reactivation), activity, specificity, selectivity, or inhibitions. Among the diverse immobilization techniques, the use of pre-existing supports to immobilize enzymes (via covalent or physical coupling) and the immobilization without supports [enzyme crosslinked aggregates (CLEAs) or crystals (CLECs)] are the most used or promising ones. This paper intends to give the advantages and disadvantages of the different existing immobilization strategies to solve the different aforementioned enzyme limitations. Moreover, the use of nanoparticles as immobilization supports is achieving an increasing importance, as the nanoparticles versatility increases and becomes more accessible to the researchers. We will also discuss here some of the advantages and drawbacks of these non porous supports compared to conventional porous supports. Although there are no universal optimal solutions for all cases, we will try to give some advice to select the optimal strategy for each particular enzyme and process, considering the enzyme properties, nature of the process and of the substrate. In some occasions the selection will be compulsory, for example due to the nature of the substrate. In other cases the optimal biocatalyst may depend on the company requirements (e.g., volumetric activity, enzyme stability, etc).

1,378 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This tutorial review focuses on the understanding of enzyme immobilisation, which can address the issue of enzymatic instability.
Abstract: Enzymes are versatile catalysts in the laboratory and on an industrial scale. To broaden their applicability in the laboratory and to ensure their (re)use in manufacturing the stability of enzymes can often require improvement. Immobilisation can address the issue of enzymatic instability. Immobilisation can also help to enable the employment of enzymes in different solvents, at extremes of pH and temperature and exceptionally high substrate concentrations. At the same time substrate-specificity, enantioselectivity and reactivity can be modified. However, most often the molecular and physical–chemical bases of these phenomena have not been elucidated yet. This tutorial review focuses on the understanding of enzyme immobilisation.

1,115 citations