IMAGO

Biosurfactants market is growing fast and could represent up to 5.52 billions USD in 2022.

Demand is getting stronger and stronger for example in cosmetics, chemicals or pharmaceutical industries. Several production pathways have been studied to obtain a wide variety of molecules such as polyclucosic alkyl, sophorolipids, rhamnolipids, acyl-peptides, acyl-amino-acids or phospholipids. In particular, acyl-peptides and acyl-aminoacids are particularly suited in cosmetics and potentially pharmaceuticals domains, due to their biological properties (antibiotics, antifongic, insecticids, anti-oxidants, etc…). For now, those acyl-aminoacids et acyl-peptides are produced industrially using a chemical method, namely the Schotten-Baumann reaction. However, and despite satisfactory yields, there is significant drawbacks such as  the use of acyl chlorides, the production of waste loaded with salts and a low selectivity.

An enzymatic pathways would solve this problems but requires new and efficient protocols that would stabilize them and a better recyclability. A possibility would be the immobilization of these catamysts on solid porous support. The goal of this project is to develop a synthses protocol of acyl-aminoacids such as C11’-phénylalanine, catalyzed by aminoacylases immobilized on graphene oxide support. Preliminary works have shown these aminoacylases have the ability to catalyse, in aqueous media, N-acylation of lysine and small lysine-containing peptides with a different selectivity from lipases (Dettori et al., 2018a). Their immobilization on mesoporous silicates supports provided a stabilization of their specific activity during 3 cycles (Dettori et al., 2018b). However, some technologic locks have been identified, such as un low immobilized amount, an activity loss due to the immobilization and a low mechanical resistance.

The use of graphène oxide should be a good solution to those problems, with an important specific surface area and a good mechanical resistance.