Harnessing Bioluminescent Bacteria to Power Photochemical Transformations

利用生物发光细菌为光化学转化提供动力

• 批准号: 2600502
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of St Andrews
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2021 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2600502
• 关键词: Harnessing; Bioluminescent; Bacteria; Power; Photochemical

The use of light energy to promote chemical reactions is one of the most vibrant and versatile areas of current research. In particular, visible light photocatalysis allows for the selective excitation of a specific molecule, which is then able to undergo energy or electron transfer with a reagent. This is a powerful strategy to form catalytic quantities of highly reactive intermediates, such as radicals or carbenes, in a highly selective manner. A vast array of novel reactions and new molecules have been generated using this approach. However, despite its widespread use in academic and industrial labs its application in large-scale multi-tonne reactions has not been realised. This can be rationalised by the poor scalability of many photochemical methods. The main factor attributed to this is the attenuation of light as described by the Beer-Lambert law. Simply increasing the scale of a reaction will drastically reduce its surface area and with light intensity decreasing exponentially within the vessel much of this energy is wasted. In this project, we seek to utilise bioluminescent bacteria as a photon source to conduct photochemical transformations. Importantly, a range of fluorescent proteins, luminescent marine and soil microorganisms are readily available; therefore, providing access to a variety of wavelengths of visible light. Initial studies will focus on obtaining proof-of-concept using a chemical photoredox reaction with a focus on biocompatibility. We will assess the biological response of the organism to the presence of photochemical intermediates (via transcriptomics) in addition to using modern synthetic biology approaches to tune the intensity and wavelength of the bioluminescence to create a modular, genetic approach to the cellular generation of light for a range of photochemical reactions. Overall, the successful implementation of this strategy will offer a new method for powering photochemical transformations without a high-powered light source. This less energy intensive approach will assist the adoption of these reactions on manufacturing scales by cutting both costs and harmful emissions.

利用光能促进化学反应是当前研究中最具活力和用途最多的领域之一。特别是，可见光光催化可以选择性激发特定分子，然后该分子能够与试剂进行能量或电子转移。这是一种以高度选择性的方式形成催化量的高活性中间体（例如自由基或卡宾）的强大策略。使用这种方法产生了大量新颖的反应和新分子。然而，尽管其在学术和工业实验室中广泛使用，但其在大规模多吨反应中的应用尚未实现。这可以通过许多光化学方法的可扩展性差来合理化。造成这种情况的主要因素是比尔-朗伯定律所描述的光衰减。简单地增加反应规模将大大减少其表面积，并且随着容器内光强度呈指数下降，大部分能量都被浪费了。在这个项目中，我们寻求利用生物发光细菌作为光子源来进行光化学转化。重要的是，一系列荧光蛋白、发光海洋和土壤微生物都很容易获得；因此，可以获取各种波长的可见光。初步研究将侧重于使用化学光氧化还原反应获得概念验证，重点关注生物相容性。除了使用现代合成生物学方法来调整生物发光的强度和波长以创建模块化的遗传方法来细胞产生光之外，我们还将评估生物体对光化学中间体存在的生物反应（通过转录组学）一系列光化学反应。总体而言，该策略的成功实施将为无需高功率光源的光化学转化提供一种新方法。这种能源密集度较低的方法将通过降低成本和有害排放来帮助在制造规模上采用这些反应。