Enzymatic synthesis of cyclic imino acids

Optically active cyclic imino acids are widely used as important pharmaceutical intermediates and it is necessary to develop cost effective synthetic method for their production. We have already established one-pot synthesis of L-cyclic imino acids from diamino acids by using N-methyl-L-amino acid dehydrogenase (NMAADH) from Pseudomonas putida. In order to make this process more efficient, we established a recombinant Escherichia coli which expresses NMAADH, lysine racemase from P. putida and D-lysine dehydrogenase from Selenomonas ruminantium in a single cell. The recombinant E. coli makes it possible to recycle NADPH by combination of reductive reaction using NMAADH and oxidative reaction using D-lysine dehydrogenase (Fig.1). Please click Additional Files below to see the full abstract

Chemocatalytic Upgrading of Tailored Fermentation Products Toward Biodiesel

Biological and chemocatalytic processes are tailored in order to maximize the production of sustainable biodiesel from lignocellulosic sugar. Thus, the combination of hydrotalcite-supported copper(II) and palladium(0) catalysts with a modification of the fermentation from acetone-butanol-ethanol to isopropanol-butanol-ethanol predictably produces higher concentrations of diesel-range components in the alkylation reaction