Laccase oxidation studies: method development for following the benzyl alcohol oxidation reaction using the Laccase/TEMPO system

Abstract

Biocatalysis is the use of nature’s biological catalysts – “enzymes” to perform synthetic chemical reactions, which are generally “greener” than traditional chemical methods. Laccases are a group of oxidoreductase enzymes considered “green catalysts” as they perform oxidation by consuming oxygen and only producing water as a byproduct. Although Laccases are environmentally friendly catalysts, they are limited in the range of substrate they can react with (i.e. phenolic substrates). This range can be expanded to nonphenolic substrates with a mediator such as TEMPO. The whole system is termed a LaccaseMediator system (LMS).