Biocatalysis

Biocatalysis uses enzymes or whole cells to accelerate chemical transformations. It exploits biological catalysts’ selectivity and ability to operate under relatively mild conditions.

Enzyme catalysis: The acceleration of chemical reactions by enzymes, through binding and stabilization of reaction pathways. Explains how purified enzymes lower barriers and select particular products.
Asymmetric synthesis: The creation of a product with a preferred chiral configuration from achiral or less selective starting materials. Enzymes often create stereochemically defined products directly.
Chemical catalysis: The acceleration of chemical reactions by nonbiological catalysts. It offers alternative catalysts that may tolerate harsher conditions or broader substrates.
Enzyme: A biological catalyst, usually a protein, that accelerates specific chemical reactions. Enzymes are the principal isolated catalysts used in biocatalysis.
Green chemistry: The design of chemical products and processes that reduce or eliminate hazardous substances and waste. Biocatalysis can support its goals through selectivity, mild conditions, and renewable feedstocks.
Enzyme kinetics: The study of reaction rates catalyzed by enzymes and how rates depend on substrate and inhibitor concentrations. Quantifies how quickly a biocatalyst converts substrate under specified conditions.
Pharmaceutical manufacturing: The industrial production of medicines and their active ingredients. Biocatalysis can simplify routes to complex, high-purity drug molecules.
Organocatalysis: Catalysis by small organic molecules that are not metals or enzymes. It can provide molecular selectivity without a protein catalyst.
Metabolism: The network of chemical reactions that sustains living cells. Whole-cell catalysis draws on metabolic pathways and cellular energy systems.
Life-cycle assessment: A method for evaluating environmental impacts across a product’s or process’s life cycle. It tests whether enzyme production and process inputs offset claimed environmental gains.

Linked from 16 pages