ERI: Upgrading Metabolites in Bacterial Cultures with Nanomicellar Catalysts

Colorado School Of Mines, Golden CO

Investigators

Abstract

This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2). Some microbes can produce chemicals. In some instances, the microbes are more efficient than chemical catalysis, in others they are not. There are efforts to combine chemical and biological catalysis in a single reactor. The fundamental objectives of this project are to design catalyst scaffolds that function in the presence of living microbes, in aqueous conditions, and with low substrate concentrations. Confining catalysts to nanosized compartments will protect the cell from the catalytic material and toxic reaction intermediates. Workforce development is another project objective. Developing lab and lecture modules for undergraduate and high school students will be a primary focus of those efforts. Biocompatible chemistry seeks to combine the high productivity and broad reactivity afforded by chemical catalysis with the sustainability of microbial biosynthesis by combining chemocatalytic upgrading of microbial metabolites in single-flask processes. However, a limited reaction toolbox (<10 examples), reliance on expensive metal catalysts (Pd, Ru, etc.), and inefficient exploration of the catalyst toxicity space has hampered the progress of this nascent field. The role of catalyst confinement in nanomicellar architectures will be explored in the development of biocompatible nitro-aldol, thia-Michael, and Diels-Alder reactions. The project will a) explore the effect of nanomicelle catalyst confinement on biocompatible catalysis; b) establish catalyst-design principles specific to biocompatible catalysts; and c) expand the scope of products available from biocompatible chemistry. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.