Sustainable antibiotic production through a fully green system

With rising population aging coupled with advancement in healthcare, the global antibiotic market is projected to exceed US$50 billion by 2030. However, the conventional chemical synthesis of antibiotic involves the use of a wide range of toxic chemicals and generates a large amount of waste during the production process. To address the inherent limitations of free enzymes, including poor stability and high operational costs, immobilized enzyme technology has been rapidly developed.

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), recognized as ideal enzyme immobilization carriers owing to their high surface area and tunable porous structures, have been of considerable research interest. investigated. Nevertheless, the practical implementation of MOFs has been hindered by energy-intensive synthesis procedures and prohibitive costs.

In a study published in Green Chemical Engineering, a fully green technological system spanning material synthesis to enzyme immobilization was developed by Chinese researchers, enabling sustainable continuous production of β-lactam antibiotics.

In particular, the synthesis of a series of Zr-MOFs was ‘greened’ through the aqueous phase method. “Leveraging the ligand-exchange capability inherent in MOFs, enzymes were employed as "macroscopic ligands" to replace organic ligands within Zr-MOFs under ambient aqueous conditions, achieving effective enzyme immobilization,” explains Dr. Yao Chen, corresponding author of the research.

This mild strategy was proven to preserve the native enzymatic activity, while the structural advantages of MOFs substantially enhanced operational stability and recyclability. Furthermore, the unique porous architecture and high surface area of the material were observed to improve mass transfer efficiency during catalytic processes.

"This study establishes a paradigm shift in MOF-mediated enzyme immobilization," adds Chen. "By creating a green manufacturing platform that integrates MOF with biocatalyst engineering, we've addressed two critical bottlenecks simultaneously: eliminating organic solvent dependence during synthesis while achieving industrial-grade enzyme operational stability. This dual innovation provides both fundamental methodological guidance and scalable technological pathways for sustainable biomanufacturing."

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Contact the author: Yao Chen, Key Laboratory of Biopharmaceutical Preparation and Delivery, State Key Laboratory of Biochemical Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China, chenyao@nankai.edu.cn

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