Title |
Biotransformation using halotolerant yeast in seawater: a sustainable strategy to produce R-(−)-phenylacetylcarbinol
|
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Published in |
Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, April 2018
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DOI | 10.1007/s00253-018-8945-1 |
Pubmed ID | |
Authors |
Cecilia Andreu, Marcel ·lí del Olmo |
Abstract |
Acyloin condensation between benzaldehyde and decarboxylated pyruvate results in the production of R-(-)-phenylacetylcarbinol, a chiral precursor of the drug ephedrine. Huge research efforts have been made to improve the conditions of this reaction and to avoid the generation of by-products. Recently, we reported the advantages of using whole cells of the yeast Debaryomyces etchellsii as biocatalysts for this purpose. In this work, a new strategy, which fulfills green chemistry principles, is proposed and is based on using seawater as a gentle solvent. We demonstrate that, under these conditions, several improvements can be made compared to employing freshwater: (1) the conversion of the starting material in (R)-PAC is higher and with a minimum production of by-products; (2) it is possible to increase at least twofold the benzaldehyde load in the reaction medium; (3) cells can maintain their activity after several recycling rounds, which makes (R)-PAC production an easy and economical process. |
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France | 1 | 100% |
Demographic breakdown
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Members of the public | 1 | 100% |
Mendeley readers
Geographical breakdown
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Unknown | 15 | 100% |
Demographic breakdown
Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
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Student > Bachelor | 7 | 47% |
Student > Ph. D. Student | 2 | 13% |
Student > Doctoral Student | 1 | 7% |
Professor | 1 | 7% |
Student > Master | 1 | 7% |
Other | 0 | 0% |
Unknown | 3 | 20% |
Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
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Chemical Engineering | 7 | 47% |
Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 2 | 13% |
Environmental Science | 1 | 7% |
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology | 1 | 7% |
Chemistry | 1 | 7% |
Other | 0 | 0% |
Unknown | 3 | 20% |