Enzyme Reaction Engineering as a Tool to Investigate the Potential Application of Enzyme Reaction Systems

Abstract

It is widely recognized and accepted that although biocatalysis is an exquisite tool to synthesize natural and unnatural compounds under mild process conditions, much can be done to better understand these processes as well as detect resulting bottlenecks and help to resolve them. This is the precise purpose of enzyme reaction engineering, a scientific discipline that focuses on investigating enzyme reactions with the goal of facilitating their implementation on an industrial scale. Even though reaction schemes of enzyme reactions often seem simple, in practice, the interdependence of different
variables is unknown, very complex and may prevent further applications. Therefore, in this work, important aspects of the implementation of enzyme reactions are discussed using simple and complex examples, along with principles of mathematical modelling that provide explanations for why some reactions do not proceed as planned.