Lecture organized as part of the Institute of Plant Genetics PAS scientific seminars will be held on Friday, December 13th, at 11:00 AM in the lecture hall of the IPG PAS.

Exploring the Opportunity of Ionic Gels and Liquids towards Nanobiocatalysis 

Dr. Sagar Biswas

Abstract: Self-assembly of amphiphilic molecules holds promise in various applications in the fields of biomedical engineering, nanotechnology and biocatalysis to name few. To find an easy approach to control the nanostructures, researchers are inspired to expand multicomponent self-assembled systems.¹ A bicomponent system is the simplest multicomponent system to achieve controlled self-assembly and gelation.² There is a broad interest in developing nano-architectured bicomponent systems that could be used for various applications, including biocatalysis.

The designed amphiphile was found to co-assemble with complementary acids to form ionic emulsion gels with porous architecture. The supramolecular nanostructures formed in emulsion gels with large pores and enhanced surface area exhibit as a template for lipase (from Candida rugosa)-catalyzed inclusion of gastrodigenin (p-hydroxybenzyl alcohol) via an esterification reaction. The enzymatic reaction with an excellent conversion (80%) leads the emulsion gel to separate into two phases, which results in recyclability of the amphiphiles. The ionic bicomponent hydrogel was used for the synthesis of L-DOPA by using tyrosine. L-tyrosine and peptide phenylalanine-tyrosine were immobilized into the hydrogel to obtain L-DOPA and F-(L)-DOPA peptide. This method is very efficient in producing L-DOPA in the gel medium with an excellent conversion. Recently ionic liquids (ILs) has also emerged with a great potetial as media for biocatalysis.³ Choline based ILs was used as suitable media for tandem biocatalysis of horseradish peroxidase-Glucose oxidase conjugates with enhanced activity.

References:

1. Buerkle L. E., Rowan S. J. (2012), Supramolecular Gels Formed from Multi-Component Low Molecular Weight Species. Chem. Soc. Rev., 41, 6089-6102.
2. Rao K. V., Jayaramulu K., Maji T. K., George S. J. (2010), Supramolecular Hydrogels and High-Aspect-Ratio Nanofibers through Charge-Transfer-Induced Alternate Coassembly. Angew. Chem., Int. Ed., 49, 4218-4222.
3. Sheldon R. A. Biocatalysis in ionic liquids: state-of-the-union. Green Chem., 2021,23, 8406-8427.