Life Sciences & Biotechnology
Title : | Development of L-proline modified magnetoreceptor protein-coated iron beads as recyclable heterogenous biocatalyst for asymmetric transformations |
Area of research : | Life Sciences & Biotechnology |
Principal Investigator : | Dr. Suman Tapryal, Central University Of Rajasthan |
Timeline Start Year : | 2022 |
Timeline End Year : | 2025 |
Contact info : | stapryal@south.du.ac.in |
Equipments : | Deep freezer (-20)
Ice flaking machine
PCR machine |
Details
Executive Summary : | The discovery of the proline catalysed aldol reaction by Barbas & List and the iminium catalysed asymmetric Diels-Alder reaction by MacMillan at the turn of the century sparked an exponential growth of this fascinating mode of catalysis. Proline is abundant in nature and both its enantiomeric forms are inexpensive however one area where its use in organocatalysis is still faced with a big challenge is the relatively high catalyst loading required in comparison to metal based catalysts, leading to reduced Turn Over Numbers (TON's). Hence, development of recyclable catalysts and/or processes that reuse organocatalysts over a few cycles is of paramount importance. Addionally, in the field of sustainable organocatalytic processes, the development of an efficient and water-compatible L-proline catalyst still remains challenging. In the proposed project we are combining the activity of L-proline with a protein scaffold to develop a water compatible biocatalyst, immobilization of which on the iron beads (no need for modification) will provide much desired feature of catalyst recycling. The concept of generating L-proline-enzyme is based on the hypothesis that an N-terminal-proline-residue of a protein, with its secondary amino group being free, may carry out asymmetric organocatalytic reactions (e.g. aldol reaction) similar to a free proline amino acid. The scaffold of a protein has the potential to provide a heterogenous structure facilitating high stereoselectivity. The protein chosen to serve as the scaffold for this L-proline modified catalyst is the magnetic protein (magnetoreceptor, MagR) which is easily absorbed by iron beads/nanoparticles rendering the protein immobilized on the beads without any chemical modification. The current proposed work is more refined as the constructs of the protein scaffold of MagR, and its variants will provide the means of immobilization of the catalyst on to nanoparticles. The modified catalyst proteins will be expressed using inexpensive E. coli expression system. The protein of interest, present in the E. coli cell lysate will be absorbed onto the iron beads/nanoparticles, separated by applying magnetic force in a single step and will be used for investigating its activity in various asymmetric reactions e.g. Aldol reaction, Mannich reaction, Michael addition etc. The proposed catalyst has the potential to provide for much desired features like non-toxicity, low cost of production and catalysis, sustainable recyclability and green chemistry for environment benign procedures. |
Co-PI: | Dr. Easwar Srinivasan, Central University Of Rajasthan, Ajmer-305817 |
Total Budget (INR): | 43,72,005 |
Organizations involved