Microtools for downstream processing

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Biocatalysis uses enzymes to enable greener production process. To fully harness the advantages of this technology, it isnecessary to understand not only the reaction steps, i.e. the steps where the desired product is produced, but also thosesteps where the desired product is separated from by-products and residual (i.e. unreacted) substrate. This typicallyrequires several purification steps. And it is often the cost of these purification steps which determine the economic viabilityof such a biocatalytic process. To rapidly understand the process and operating conditions of these purification steps -which in turn determines the cost and viability of the whole process - it is necessary to rapidly analyse different purificationstep 'candidates' and select the most efficient one(s). The more rapidly such an investigation can be conducted, the fastercritical decisions about the economic viability can be taken, and the faster one can bring a product to the market.Here, we propose to use the advances in microfabrication to create miniaturised devices which can mimic the larger onestypically used for purification, so that the different steps can be evaluated more rapidly. Miniaturisation will mean a morecost-effective use of resources to undertake the investigations. Miniaturisation will also mean that particular effects can bestudied with greater detail. We envisage for example to study the effects of how product molecules 'transition' from onesolvent (e.g. aqueous one) to another solvent (e.g. an organic one), and under what conditions they do so best, in aprocess that is called liquid-liquid extraction. We will then use this information to determine how larger systems (ie thesystems where the products will effectively be produced and purified) should be designed to improve their yield. Such animprovement in yield should make biocatalysis an even greener process and make it also economically more viable.