The use of enzymes in the chemical industry in Europe

✍ Scribed by Andreas Schmid; Frank Hollmann; Jin Byung Park; Bruno Bühler

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 2002
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 132 KB
• Volume: 13
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0958-1669
• DOI: 10.1016/s0958-1669(02)00336-1

✦ Synopsis

Many European chemical industries are in a phase of reorganization resulting in a general opening towards life sciences. Traditional chemical markets are served increasingly with products derived from bioprocesses or hybrid chemical/biocatalytic processes. Biocatalytic steps are already being used to produce a wide range of products, including agricultural chemicals, organics, drugs and plastic materials, to name but a few. Apart from the rapidly growing number of commercialized bioprocesses, a partial survey of exploratory activities points to future applications of enzymes in the European chemical industry, which will bring new products and technologies and, in some cases, replace traditional syntheses.