Redox Biocatalysis in a Flow System

MARÍA FLORENCIA TORRES; DARIO ARRUA; FABRICIO R. BISOGNO; ALICIA PEÑÉÑORY; CECILIA I. ÁLVAREZ IGARZÁBAL; EMILY HILDER

Simposio; XX Simposio Nacional de Química Orgánica; 2015

Monolithic cryopolymers are formed via the cryogenic treatment (moderatefreezing-frozen storage-thawing) of solutions of the appropriate precursors.1 They presenta large interconnected pore network which results in low surface area and lowbackpressure when used as stationary phases compared to conventional bead-basedmaterials.2 They also have good mechanical properties and high biocompatibility3 andcontain great amount of bonded water inside their pores, which can serve as aqueousmedium for enzymatic reactions.4 Despite all these promising characteristics, there arefew reports on their use in biotechnological applications.4,5In this work, we synthesized and characterized a poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylateco-glycidyl methacrylate (PEGDA-co-GMA) cryogel inside modified silica capillaries (150m internal diameter, see figure 1). Then, the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase (HLADH)was covalently immobilized to be used into a flow bioreactor. HLADH promotes thereversible reduction of aldehydes as shown in scheme 1. Different parameters affectingthe enzymatic activity, as pH and reaction temperature, were evaluated. After theimmobilization, the enzyme remains active and can be used with different substrates.These results are very promising for future technological applications.