Enzymes - Information
Enzymes are proteins which can catalyze chemical reactions. They are isolated from plants, animal cells and micro-organisms and play an important role in the metabolism of all living organisms.…
Enzymes - Information
Enzymes are proteins which can catalyze chemical reactions. They are isolated from plants, animal cells and micro-organisms and play an important role in the metabolism of all living organisms. Enzymes speed up chemical reactions as bio-catalysts by decreasing the activation energy, which has to be overcome to enable metabolism.
Enzymes are used for instance to obtain stereoselective products which are becoming increasingly important especially in the pharmaceutical sector. The production of agents is regarded as biggest chance for growth in the fine chemicals field. In 2010 approx. 60% of the turnover of pharmaceutical products will be produced biotechnologically.
Biocatalysis will especially in this sector develop into a key technology and radiate on the other sectors of chemical engineering - it is regarded a driving innovation force in white biotechnology which aims at cutting the production of harmful substances in industrial production or avoiding it altogether. The potential of biocatalysis is the development of new processes with highly specified chemical change which save energy and resources and preferably do not produce waste which can not be recycled further on.
In the medical field enzymes are used as therapeutic agents, to produce pharmaceuticals or in diagnosis. Pegaspargase which enables the degradation of asparagin in cancer cells is just one example for enzymes used in therapeutic agents. Carboxypeptidase is used for producing insulin from pancreas and Glucose Oxidase to determine blood sugar with biosensor. Enzymes are, however, not only used in the medical field but in numerous other applications as well. Papain used for proteolysis by breweries and bakeries and Lipase which is used in detergents to remove fat are just two examples.
Enzymes are enormously advantageous compared to chemical reactions and procedures: They speed up chemical reactions which are hardly detectable millionfold. Moreover they are adjusted to the environment of living cells - they react in aqueous solutions without pressure and with blood heat. Unlike chemical procedures enzymatic methods do not need solvents or extreme heat and therefore generally are less energy consuming, they produce less waste and thus are more environmentally friendly.
Enzymes work effectively and accurately and affect precisely defined groups of molecules which they specifically cut up or modify at certain places. In this way purer starting materials can be obtained for better medicines, more agreeable cosmetic products, healthier food, more natural flavours etc.
All listed Lyases
| Code | Product | CAS-No. | Formula | Mol. Weight | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0400340 | Nitrile Hydratase | ||||
| 0400004 | (S)-Oxynitrilase | ||||
| 0400380 | Phosphoenolpyruvate Carboxylase | 9067-77-0 | |||
| 0400412 | R-Oxynitrilase | ||||
| 0400439 | S-Oxynitrilase | ||||
| 0400036 | (R)-oxynitrilase |
