Biphasic biocatalytic testosterone dehydrogenation in microfluidic droplets

Two-phase biocatalysis is commonly used for the bioconversion of water-insoluble chemical and pharmaceutical compounds. In research laboratories, such processes often take place in flasks and are driven and limited by slow diffusive processes. In this work, we developed droplet-based microfluidic systems and used them to perform testosterone dehydrogenation. The use of microdroplets as reaction vessels offers the advantage of greatly improved diffusion rates due to significantly increased surface-to-volume ratio. We found that indeed reaction time was reduced from tens of minutes to tens of seconds without sacrificing conversion efficiency. This demonstrates the potential of droplet-based two-phase biocatalysis

Two-Phase Biocatalysis in Microfluidic Droplets

This Perspective discusses the literature related to two-phase biocatalysis in microfluidic droplets. Enzymes used as catalysts in biocatalysis are generally less stable in organic media than in their native aqueous environments; however, chemical and pharmaceutical compounds are often insoluble in water. The use of aqueous/organic two-phase media provides a solution to this problem and has therefore become standard practice for multiple biotransformations. In batch, two-phase biocatalysis is limited by mass transport, a limitation that can be overcome with the use of microfluidic systems. Although, two-phase biocatalysis in laminar flow systems has been extensively studied, microfluidic droplets have been primarily used for enzyme screening. In this Perspective, we summarize the limited published work on two-phase biocatalysis in microfluidic droplets and discuss the limitations, challenges, and future perspectives of this technology