Synthesizing fine chemicals: Technological Advance in Production of Pharmaceuticals

04-Oct-2024 - Production of fine chemicals such as those used in pharmaceuticals is typically complex and laborious. An interdisciplinary team of Fraunhofer researchers worked together across different projects to devise a method modeled on a cascade, in which multiple successive stages of synthesis proceed ...

Observed live for the first time: photocatalysts switch off a virus

Whitening agent titanium dioxide kills viruses – now researchers see it at work at the nanoscale

02-Aug-2024 - An international research team led by DESY scientists has been able to observe for the first time how the whitening agent titanium dioxide inactivates viruses. Using various advanced methods, including measurements at the synchrotron light source PETRAIII, they were able to precisely reproduce ...

A new understanding of enzymatic catalysis

BASF and the University of Graz develop fundamentally new computer-assisted model to optimize efficiency of biocatalytic production processes

25-Jul-2024 - Numerous factors influence the efficiency of the enzymes used to produce chemicals. Finding the optimal reaction conditions therefore requires significant time and resources. Researchers from BASF, the Austrian Research Centre of Industrial Biotechnology (acib) and the University of Graz in ...

GDCh Award for Biocatalysis for Sebastian Gergel

19-Jul-2024 - The German Chemical Society (GDCh) is awarding the GDCh Award for Biocatalysis to Dr. Sebastian Gergel, EnginZyme AB, Solna, Sweden. The award ceremony will take place on September 12th during the annual meeting of the GDCh Division of Sustainable Chemistry in Mülheim an der Ruhr. Sebastian ...

How a Biocatalyst Might Boost the Growth of Microalgae

26-Jun-2024 - A sensor for nitrogen could be hidden behind the extension of an enzyme for the breakdown of starch. If this sensor detects a high level of nitrogen, algal growth switches into turbo mode. Living organisms consist to a large extent of carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) compounds. These have to be taken ...

Enzymes instead of highly toxic cyanide

Researchers develop biocatalytic process for nitrile production

20-Jun-2024 - A research team from TU Graz and the Czech Academy of Sciences has used two enzymes to eliminate the need for highly toxic cyanide in the production of nitriles. If the household cleaner emits a lemon-like odour, this may be due to a nitrile called citronellyl nitrile. These versatile chemical ...

New approach in the synthesis of complex natural substances

New approach for total synthesis paves the way for new drug developments

06-May-2024 - They are found as fragrances in cosmetics or as flavorings in food, and form the basis of new medications: Terpenes are natural substances that occur in plants, insects and sea sponges. They are difficult to produce synthetically. However, chemists at the University of Basel are now introducing a ...

Bioluminescence - the natural glow

How glowing molecules can also be used in industry

23-Apr-2024 - Many living organisms can glow in the dark. Researchers are already using this ability in medicine. A research team led by Prof. Dr. Stefan Schramm from HTWD is investigating how glowing molecules can also be used in industry. Dresden, 17.04.2024 - Bioluminescence is the emission of light as a ...

Producing chemicals in an environmentally friendly and energy-saving way: More yield through nanopores

New membrane process increases the efficiency of enzymes - reaction rate significantly improved

22-Apr-2024 - Flow-through reactors packed with enzymes can produce certain chemicals in a gentle and careful way. However, their performance has so far been limited. A research team from the Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon and RWTH Aachen University has now been able to increase the yield a thousandfold. Using a ...

Powering Nitrogenases: New ways for sustainable fertiliser production

New targets for improving biocatalysts

26-Feb-2024 - Nitrogenases are considered promising candidates for the sustainable enzymatic production of ammonia and carbon compounds. One bottleneck in this complex process, the supply of electrons to the enzymes, has remained a mystery until now. Now a team at the Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial ...