DECHEMA

About: DECHEMA is a nonprofit organization based out in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Corrosion & Oxide. The organization has 756 authors who have published 1307 publications receiving 25693 citations.

Applied biocatalysis for the synthesis of natural flavour compounds--current industrial processes and future prospects.

Abstract: The industrial application of biocatalysis for the production of natural flavour compounds is illustrated by a discussion of the production of vanillin, γ-decalactone, carboxylic acids, C6 aldehydes and alcohols (`green notes'), esters, and 2-phenylethanol Modern techniques of molecular biology and process engineering, such as heterologous expression of genes, site-directed mutagenesis, whole-cell biocatalysis in biphasic systems, and cofactor regeneration for in vitro oxygenation, may result in more biocatalytic processes for the production of flavour compounds in the future

Electroactive bacteria—molecular mechanisms and genetic tools

Abstract: In nature, different bacteria have evolved strategies to transfer electrons far beyond the cell surface. This electron transfer enables the use of these bacteria in bioelectrochemical systems (BES), such as microbial fuel cells (MFCs) and microbial electrosynthesis (MES). The main feature of electroactive bacteria (EAB) in these applications is the ability to transfer electrons from the microbial cell to an electrode or vice versa instead of the natural redox partner. In general, the application of electroactive organisms in BES offers the opportunity to develop efficient and sustainable processes for the production of energy as well as bulk and fine chemicals, respectively. This review describes and compares key microbiological features of different EAB. Furthermore, it focuses on achievements and future prospects of genetic manipulation for efficient strain development.

How Green is Biocatalysis? To Calculate is To Know

Abstract: Green chemistry aims to minimize the environmental hazards of chemical processes and their products. Ever since its introduction by Anastas, this principle has inspired researchers to critically rethink chemistry in view of its potential impact on the environment. Especially, the 12 Principles of Green Chemistry have been an inspiring guideline for this process. Biocatalysis is widely considered as one of the key technologies fulfilling the 12 principles and thereby being green chemistry per se. The reader will recognize stereotypical boilerplate statements such as “enzymes as renewable and biodegradable catalysts”, “working under environmentally benign conditions (temperature, pH, etc.)”, and “operating in water as an environmentally benign solvent” frequently found in the introductory passages to biocatalysis publications. Indeed, these are important parameters that can make biocatalysis environmentally more acceptable than “classical” chemical methods, provided the advantages are not (over)compensated by the disadvantages. Unfortunately, the latter are discussed to a much lesser extent. We also noted a certain tendency to pick a few of the 12 principles to underline the greenness of the method published, which certainly is in contrast to the envisioned use of the 12 principles as a cohesive system. We believe that the time is now to transition from just claiming environmental benefits of (bio)catalysis to quantifying the environmental impact. Indeed, the potential of biocatalysis as a tool to make chemical processes greener has been demonstrated by a limited number of studies. These studies mostly comprise the life-cycle assessment (LCA) of the processes. Unfortunately, LCAs are still rather complex and work intensive. Therefore, LCAs are appreciated by industry to evaluate existing processes (and to use the positive result as a selling argument), whereas research-oriented academic groups generally do not possess the expertise, resources, and interest to perform LCAs. As a result, sustainability issues are often addressed in the phase of manuscript preparation as described above. We believe that on the long term, careless, qualitative use of the term green chemistry will discredit the concept. Therefore, with this contribution we wish to promote the use of simple metrics to assess the environmental footprint of a given method in a semi-quantitative way. To calculate is to know (better). Sheldon proposed the E factor (environmental factor) to assess the greenness of a given reaction. The E factor denotes the amount of waste generated per product equivalent [Eq. (1)] .