High Turnover NAD Regeneration in the Coupled Dehydrogenase Conversion of Sorbitol to Fructose

Abstract

Significant progress has recently been made in the commercial application of a limited number of enzyme processes. However, it is important to note that none of these applications involve enzymes with dissociable cofactors. Since four of the six classes of enzymes require cofactors, the absence of efficient and economic methods for cofactor-requiring enzymatic processes has presented a major obstacle to reaching the full potential of enzyme technology. Cofactor-requiring enzymatic processes of considerable interest include the transformation of glucose to a variety of chemicals, the conversion of lignin by-products to amino acids, enzymatic synthesis of pharmaceuticals such as chenodeoxycholate and bacitracin, the capture of solar energy through biophotolysis, stereo-specific steroid transformations, epoxidation of fatty acids and many others.