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Hydratases involved in nitrile conversion: Screening, characterization and application
Author(s) -
Yamada Hideaki,
Shimizu Sakayu,
Kobayashi Michihiko
Publication year - 2001
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.5
Subject(s) - nitrile , characterization (materials science) , chemistry , computer science , business , materials science , nanotechnology , organic chemistry
The discovery of new enzymes with greater activity and specificity opens new, simple routes for synthetic processes, and consequently, new methods to solve environmental problems. A number of nitrile‐related enzymes have been screened over the past few years for use in developing synthetic applications. Microbial nitrile hydratase (NHase) has great potential as a catalyst in organic chemical processing because the enzyme can convert nitriles to the corresponding higher value amides under mild conditions, and has now been applied to the industrial productions of acrylamide and nicotinamide. Particularly, the former production is the first successful example of a bioconversion process for the manufacture of a commodity chemical. The characterization of the enzyme at the molecular level has provided new insights into how the molecular structure determines the enzyme function, and how the regulatory system controls the expression of the enzyme genes to improve the enzyme and the NHase‐dependent process. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and The Japan Chemical Journal Forum Chem Rec 1: 152–161, 2001