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Two Decades of Laccases: Advancing Sustainability in the Chemical Industry
Author(s) -
Cannatelli Mark D.,
Ragauskas Arthur J.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
the chemical record
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.61
H-Index - 78
eISSN - 1528-0691
pISSN - 1527-8999
DOI - 10.1002/tcr.201600033
Subject(s) - sustainability , laccase , chemical industry , environmentally friendly , biochemical engineering , business , nanotechnology , engineering , chemistry , pulp and paper industry , waste management , organic chemistry , materials science , enzyme , ecology , biology
Given the current state of environmental affairs and that our future on this planet as we know it is in jeopardy, research and development into greener and more sustainable technologies within the chemical and forest products industries is at its peak. Given the global scale of these industries, the need for environmentally benign practices is propelling new green processes. These challenges are also impacting academic research and our reagents of interest are laccases. These enzymes are employed in a variety of biotechnological applications due to their native function as catalytic oxidants. They are about as green as it gets when it comes to chemical processes, requiring O 2 as their only co‐substrate and producing H 2 O as the sole by‐product. The following account will review our twenty year journey on the use of these enzymes within our research group, from their initial use in biobleaching of kraft pulps and for fiber modification within the pulp and paper industry, to their current application as green catalytic oxidants in the field of synthetic organic chemistry.