Volume 6, Issue 4

In this chapter, asymmetric at carbon oxidations using organocatalytic systems reported from 2012 up to 2018 have been illustrated. Asymmetric epoxidations and oxidation of heteroatom-containing molecules were not included. The processes selected encopass alpha-hydroxylation of carbonyl compounds, dihydroxylation and dioxygenation of alkenes, Baeyer-Villiger and oxidative desymmetrization reactions.

Downstream processing in industrial biotechnology is a very important part of the overall bioproduct manufacturing. Sometimes the cost for this part of biotechnologies is up to 50% of the overall expenses. It comprises product concentration, separation and purification to different extents, as requested. The usually low product concentrations, the large volumes of fermentation broth and the product sensitivity toward higher temperatures lead to specific methods, similar but not identical to the ones in traditional chemical technology. This article summarizes briefly the unit operations in downstream processing in industrial biotechnology, making a parallel between biotechnology and chemical technology.

Organic synthesis has traditionally been performed in batch. Continuous-flow chemistry was recently rediscovered as an enabling technology to be applied to the synthesis of organic molecules. Organocatalysis is a well-established methodology, especially for the preparation of enantioenriched compounds. In this chapter we discuss the use of chiral organocatalysts in continuous flow. After the classification of the different types of catalytic reactors, in Section 2, each class will be discussed with the most recent and significant examples reported in the literature. In Section 3 we discuss homogeneous stereoselective reactions in flow, with a look at the stereoselective organophotoredox transformations in flow. This research topic is emerging as one of the most powerful method to prepare enantioenriched products with structures that would otherwise be challenging to make. Section 4 describes the use of supported organocatalysts in flow chemistry. Part of the discussion will be devoted to the choice of the support. Examples of packed-bed, monolithic and inner-wall functionalized reactors will be introduced and discussed. We hope to give an overview of the potentialities of the combination of (supported) chiral organocatalysts and flow chemistry.

The pulp and paper industry is known to be a large contributor to environmental pollution due to the huge consumption of chemicals and energy. Several chemicals including H 2 SO 4 , Cl 2 , ClO 2 , NaOH, and H 2 O 2 are used during the bleaching process. These chemicals react with lignin and carbohydrates to generate a substantial amount of pollutants in bleach effluents. Environmental pressure has compelled the pulp and paper industry to reduce pollutant generation from the bleaching section. Enzymes have emerged as simple, economical, and eco-friendly alternatives for bleaching of pulp. The pretreatment of pulp with enzymes is termed as biobleaching or pre-bleaching. Different microbial enzymes such as xylanases, pectinases, laccases, manganese peroxidases (MnP), and lignin peroxidases are used for biobleaching. Xylanases depolymerize the hemicelluloses precipitated on pulp fiber surfaces and improves the efficiency of bleaching chemicals. Xylanase treatment also increases the pulp fibrillation and reduces the beating time of the pulp. Pectinases hydrolyze pectin available in the pulp fibers and improve the papermaking process. Laccase treatment is found more effective along with mediator molecules (as a laccase-mediator system). Biobleaching of pulp results in the superior quality of pulp along with lower consumption of chlorine-based chemicals and lower generation of adsorbable organic halidesadsorbable organic halides (AOX. An enzyme pretreatment reduces the kappa number of pulp and improves ISO brightness significantly. Better physical strength properties and pulp viscosity have also been observed during biobleaching of pulp.

Solvent extraction one of the oldest approaches of separation known, remains one of the most well-known methods operating on an industrial scale. With the availability of variety of solvents as well as commercial equipment, liquid–liquid extractions finds applications in fields like chemicals and bio-products, food, polymer, pharmaceutical industry etc. Liquid–liquid extraction process is particularly suitable for biorefinery process (through conversion using microorganisms), featuring mild operational conditions and ease of control of process. The principles, types, equipment and applications of liquid–liquid extraction for bioproducts are discussed. Currently various intensification techniques are being applied in the field of liquid–liquid extraction for improving the process efficiency like hybrid processes, reactive extraction, use of ionic liquids etc, which are gaining importance due to the cost associated with the downstream processing of the fermentation products (20–50% of total production cost).