Speciality Chemicals Magazine MAR / APR 2024 | Page 22

PHARMACEUTICALS
• No bottleneck due to equipment limitation As shown in Figure 4 , PMI was significantly reduced when comparing the batch process to Seqens ’ optimised process , especially in terms of water and solvents volumes .
Case study : Extremozyme as biocatalyst
In order to produce a specific lipidbased compound , an enzymatic process was developed , reaching high productivity and aligning major sustainability principles . The initial process used a metal-based catalyst in an organic solvent ( ten volumes ).
The targeted reaction is a transesterification between a fatty ester derivative and a fatty alcohol intermediate at 200 ° C . The operational conditions required eight steps ( Figure 5 ) including separation steps , such as metalcatalyst removal , product extraction and purification .
To improve competitiveness , an enzymatic process was investigated by initially screening a large collection of thermostable esterases ( extremozyme family ), mainly for reducing the external energy expenditure . A screening programme was carried out with a unique biodiversity collection of extremophiles from which these enzymes are derived . 18
More than 800 Seqenzym * thermostable esterases were tested . One of the ten best candidates had a maximum activity at 105 ° C . During the scaled-up studies of the enzymatic process , the optimal conditions were implemented in neat solvent . Indeed , both substrates were liquid above 90 ° C , and extremozymes
Chemo-catalyst process
Cold conditions
Temp . < 50 ° C

■ High temperature

-----+ Physical treatment
are generally heat-stable and solvent-tolerant biocatalysts with valuable properties .
Under these conditions no byproduct formation was observed , such as decomposition . The biocatalyst was filtered easily at the end of the reaction and direct product isolation was obtained .
Summary
PI aims to dramatically boost manufacturing processes through the application of novel processing schemes and equipment . Combining it with relevant green chemical transformations can dramatically improve the overall greenness level with the consequent reduction in capital- and / or energy-intensity . Chemical engineers have an important role to play because of their understanding of chemical
Figure 5 - Enzymatic process in neat solvent , using Seqens ’ extremozyme collection
Note : Each box represents a key operation carried out cold ( blue ) at < 50 ° C ( purple box ) & high temperature ( red ). Arrows represent a physical treatment
Enzymatic process using an extremozyme
synthesis , thermodynamics , transport and rheology , and process and systems design .
The need for speed in process development is essential . When adopting innovative and improved conditions , a high number of tests are usually required for controlling the chemical space . High throughput experimentation is a powerful tool for rapid and cost-efficient evaluation and Seqens has expertise in this field from early phase to commercial scale . ●
* - Seqenzym is a registered trademark of SEQENS
Juliette Martin
SCIENTIFIC COMMUNICATION MANAGER
SEQENS
k + 33 6 78 28 6 76 J juliette . martin @ seqens . com j www . seqens . com
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22 SPECIALITY CHEMICALS MAGAZINE ESTABLISHED 1981