SEED FUND Project BioCaPS

Structural Insights of Biohybrid Catalysts for Polylactide Synthesis

Abstract

Polylactic acid (PLA) is a polymer produced from renewable resources, consisting of lactide monomers. It represents a promising and biodegradable alternative to petroleum-based polymers. To achieve high stability e.g. for fibres and bottles the PLA molecule needs to be isotactic which means that all lactide monomers have the same spatial orientation. So far, isotactic PLA cannot be produced without significant waste streams of atactic and heterotactic PLA.
Biohybrid catalysts is a rapidly emerging research field with the promise to expand the synthetic power of metal catalysts by anchoring them in a surrounding protein shell. Control of chemo- and regioselectivity is then achieved like in enzymes through space, by specifically orienting substrates to the catalytic center. The BioCaPS project aims to design biohybrid catalysts for the selective production of isotactic PLA.

Impact on bioeconomy

PLAs have been developed and introduced to the consumer market in the area of packaging, fibers, consumer goods, automotive and biomedical applications. The global PLA market is expected to grow in the next years with the biggest marketplaces located in Europe and North America. Selective production if isotactic PLA would reduce large waste streams and thereby contribute to a more sustainable and integrated bioeconomy. In case of success, BioCaPS will represent a proof of concept for a potential BioSC production platform for PLA which could be developed into a process case and become a potential business case for the BioSC.

Expected results/project products

Prerequisite to efficiently design biohybrid catalysts are structural information of metal catalysts and their location in the protein shell. The BioCaPS project will design and express hybrid catalysts consisting of metal catalysts based on zinc and indium and the membrane protein FhuA with an engineered anchoring site. By crystallographic and NMR-analysis deep structural information on these catalysts will be gained.

Participating Core Groups

Coordinators
Prof. Dr. Jun Okuda
Dr. Thomas Spaniol
RWTH Aachen University
Institut für Anorganische Chemie
Landoltweg 1
52074 Aachen
Phone: +49 241 80 - 94645
Fax: +49 241 80- 92644
email: jun.okuda@ac.rwth-aachen.de

Partners
Prof. Dr. Ulrich Schwaneberg, Dr. Leilei Zhu, Lehrstuhl für Biotechnologie, RWTH Aachen University
Prof. Dr. Georg Groth, Institut für Biochemische Pflanzenphysiologie, Heinrich Heine-Universität Düsseldorf
Prof. Dr. Henrike Heise, Institut für Physikalische Biologie, Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf / Institut für Komplexe Systeme, ICS-6: Strukturelle Biochemie, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH

Funding period
01.01.2016 – 31.12.2016

Funding
The total budget of BioCaPS is 149.065,00 €. BioCaPS is part of the NRW-Strategieprojekt BioSC and thus funded by the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Research of the German State of North Rhine-Westphalia.