Biocatalysis & Biotransformation: A 5th Theme for the National Catalysis Hub

The proposed research looks to establish biocatalysis & biotransformation research at the UK Catalysis Hub. A catalyst is something added in very small amounts to a reaction that will make it faster, and they play a very important role in modern chemistry and biology. Up to 90% of chemically produced materials have used a catalyst in their production - the enzymes in washing powder are a type of biological catalyst that helps break down organic stains on clothes, for example. The catalytic converter in a car contains precious metal catalysts that convert harmful nitrogen monoxide fumes into harmless nitrogen gas. Catalysis in general is integral to the discovery and manufacture of new materials that structure our society - e.g. medicines, agrochemicals, polymers, flavours and fragrances.

Catalysts can dramatically accelerate chemical reactions, to the extent where some impossibly slow processes become highly efficient when performed under catalytic conditions. The challenge is matching up the right catalyst with the right chemical reaction. Our research will concentrate on biological catalysis, looking at ways to integrate enzyme and whole cell biocatalysis into new manufacturing processes. It is possible, for example, to integrate metals and biocatalysts into single chemical reactions, such that the synthesis of new molecules would be dramatically accelerated. For this to be possible we need fundamental advances in our understanding of how enzymes work and how metal catalysts can be made to function under mild conditions. The Catalysis Hub offers a unique focal point to realise this research goal, which will drive the development of each arm of catalysis in new and unexpected ways. It brings scientists together from UK universities (and beyond) and industry to tackle major problems in catalysis. The networking of scientists from different disciplines and sectors will permit a cross-disciplinary approach to catalysis that will be essential if we are to drive biocatalysis research forward in its widest context.

The societal and economic impacts from this research programme will be realised through the development of biocatalysis & biotransformation capabilities to underpin sustainable chemicals manufacturing processes. The proposed activities will open up more predictive design and redesign of catalysts, thereby accelerating catalyst discovery and translation toward industrial application. Novel ways of combining enzyme catalysts with heterogeneous and homogeneous chemo-catalysis will be a major focus to deliver efficient synthetic routes, geared towards 'zero emissions'. Embedded in the national UK catalysis Hub, the proposed work in designing new catalytic processes will support green industrial manufacturing with consequent benefits on the environment and health of individuals. It will also assist in the transition from valuable resources (oil-based products; natural energy reserves) as new integrated chemo- and bio-catalytic programmes feed into industrial biotechnology/chemicals industry for chemicals manufacture through the use of alternative feedstocks. Allied industries will also benefit from catalyst design including generation of biofuels using synthetic biology/artificially created enzyme catalysts.

Our activities will underpin sustainable manufacture across many areas, including bulk and fine chemicals, and API synthesis for pharmaceuticals manufacture - in the broadest sense. New catalysts will also find widespread application in more traditional manufacturing processes e.g. food processing, tanning, paper manufacture and related industries. A key challenge is to engineer existing catalysts to work effectively in collaboration under similar reaction conditions. This will benefit complex syntheses (e.g. of natural products and other complex molecules) and also provision of feedstocks for chemicals manufacture. A major driver will be to accelerate catalyst design more predictably through use of theoretical modelling and computation, bringing wider expertise into the catalysis community to effect a step-change in delivery and capability.

The beneficiaries of the research are the chemicals and emerging white biotechnology industries, which increasingly need to work in partnership to identify novel, cross-discipline solutions to sustainable chemicals manufacture. The food, pharmaceuticals and environmental remediation industries are also obvious beneficiaries of improved biocatalyst design. An ability to rationally design or create new catalysts will also have significant impact in the catalyst supply industries (e.g. Novozyme, BASF and others) and our activity at the Hub will place less prominence on the need to search for new, natural catalysts (e.g. from marine or other sources) through informatics and costly and restrictive biocatalysis screening programmes.

We will train a new generation of catalysis scientists not constrained by discipline boundaries. These scientists will work effectively across the chemicals synthesis, theoretical modelling, process development and bioscience disciplines. Our biotransformations activity will also be industry-led, ensuring that this new generation of scientists is trained to work across sector boundaries with the ability to integrate industry need into state-of-the-art catalysis programmes. The proposal maps strongly into the EPSRC Dial-a-Molecule Grand Challenge, which seeks to transform catalysis science by building a multidisciplinary community to tackle major barriers in catalysis research and thus maximize economic benefit for the UK and beyond.
The Catalysis Hub centralises expertise, enabling experts to work together and interact effectively. This will provide cohesion to integrate the disciplines of biocatalysis, engineering and chemistry to provide a more unified voice that will maintain a strategic dialogue with industry, funders and policy makers, and more generally outreach and PE.