PhD scholarship at the research centre Jülich

Biocatalysis in ionic liquids Reaction Engineering aspects of cofactor regeneration in ionic liquids

Supervisors: Dr. Lütz/Prof. Wandrey (Institute of Biotechnology, Research Centre Jülich) and PD Dr. M. Pohl (Institute of Molecular Enzyme Technology, University of Düsseldorf).

The overall aim of this project is to carry out the alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) catalysed reduction of a prochiral ketone to a chiral alcohol in an aqueous/ionic liquid (IL) two phase system.

Therefore the influence of different non-water miscible ILs on the enzyme and its cofactor (NAD(P)) is studied.

Furthermore, the behaviour of the reactants (substrates and products) in terms of their partitioning in the two phase system has to be considered.

These studies require a broad screening of available ILs leading to the selection of a solvent best suited for the reaction. Finally, setup of a continuously operated reactor is planned.

Areas of expertise:
Interested applicants should have a background in chemistry. Expertise in analytical methods (enzyme assays, protein determination, UV/Vis, FTIR, HPLC, GC) is highly desired.

Further knowledge on enzymatic catalysis, reaction engineering or technical chemistry is beneficial, but not mandatory.

Deadline for applications is September 30, 2006.

Contact:

Dr. Stephan Lütz
Head of Technical Biocatalysis
Institute of Biotechnology 2
Research Centre Jülich
D-52425 Jülich
fon:+49-(0)2461-61-4388
fax:+49-(0)2461-61-3870
www.fz-juelich.de/ibt/biokat
www.bionoco.org

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