News

15.07.2024

Publication of our scientists in ChemCatChem

We are pleased to announce that the publication entitled: “ADH-Catalyzed Biooxidation of (Hetero)aromatic sec-Alcohols to Ketones Employing Vinyl Acetate as Acetaldehyde Surrogate” has been published in ChemCatChem (ISSN: 1867-3899, IF: 3.8).

In this article we show that an engineered variant of an alcohol dehydrogenase deduced from Lactobacillus kefir (Lk-ADH Prince) serves as an efficient biocatalyst for biooxidation of sec-alcohols under mild conditions employing vinyl acetate as an acetaldehyde surrogate, which takes up the hydride, allowing the synthesis of variously functionalized ketones quantitively. The merger of the Lk-ADH Prince-catalyzed biooxidation with transaminase-catalyzed amination in a one-pot, two-step sequential manner led to optically active amines. This work should provide useful input to the field of redox biotransformations.

We dedicate this paper to our colleague and excellent educator, Dr. Tadeusz Zdrojewski, in honor of his retirement from WUT after 40 years of being an academic tutor.

The research published in this paper was funded by the National Science Center (NCN) under the grant “OPUS 24” (No. 2022/47/B/ST4/00139)

More information can be found on the journal’s website: https://chemistry-europe.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/cctc.202400803

25.06.2024

A first-year PhD student from our Chair was awarded at the BPCI 2024 conference

The international conference “6th Symposium Biotransformations for Pharmaceutical and Cosmetic Industry BPCI 2024” held at the Jerzy Haber Institute of Catalysis and Surface Chemistry Polish Academy of Sciences (ICSC PAS) in Krakow on 17−19 June 2024, organized by ICSC and the Faculty of Food Technology of the Agricultural University in Krakow.

During the symposium, Ph.D. students from our Faculty presented the results of their research during the “Flash Oral” session:

– Aleksandra Rudzka: “One-Pot Two-Step Sequential Photo-Biocatalytic Deracemization of sec-Alcohols Combining Photocatalytic Oxidation and Bioreduction”;

– Natalia Antos: “Synthesis of Optically Active Alcohols Using Photocatalytic Oxidative Cleavage of Alkenes Followed by Carbonyl Stereoselective Bioreduction“;

– Beata Zdun: “Chromatography-free Lipase-Catalyzed Kinetic Resolution of Secondary Alcohols Using Vinyl 3-(dimethylamino)propanoate as an Acyl Group Donor“.

In addition, it is worth mentioning that the “BPCI 2024 Scientific Committee” recognized Natalia Antos’ work with an award in the “Most Innovative Poster” category. We congratulate the award winner and wish her continued success in her scientific work!

22.05.2024

Employees of our Chair are winners of the Best of the Best II competition

Dr. Karolina Drężek and Dr. Anna Sobiepanek became the winners of the 2nd edition of the Best of the Best competition. This competition is organized as part of the “Excellence Initiative – Research University” program implemented at the Warsaw University of Technology.

The aim of the competition is to provide support and maintain the involvement of outstanding young employees from the group of academic teachers of the Warsaw University of Technology performing research, teaching and organizational tasks, in the development of their academic career at WUT. The main assumption of the competition is an individual approach to each laureate, learning about his/her needs in the development of both scientific and teaching careers.

Requirements for candidates:
– a doctoral degree obtained no earlier than 7 years before the deadline for submitting the application and included in number N;
– employment at the Warsaw University of Technology under a full-time employment contract;
– representing scientific disciplines for which Scientific Disciplinary Councils have been established at WUT;
– achievements in various aspects of academic activity in the field of research, education or organization for the benefit of the employing organizational unit or the entire university or outside the academic field (i.e. promotional activities outside the university, promoting education through research activities, cooperation with industry related to the subject of one’s research work).

The winners were selected, based on the evaluation of the applications, by a competition committee appointed by the Rector. Support was granted to 27 people, 2 of whom are employees of our Chair.

Congratulations to the ladies!!! 🙂

10.02.2024

Publication of our scientists in ACS Catalysis!

Dr. Pawel Borowiecki’s group, with the leading contribution of our Ph.D. students (Aleksandra Rudzka and Natalia Antos) and in collaboration with scientists from Prof. Wolfgang Kroutil’s group (the “Elk Crew”, the University in Graz, Austria), published a research article on the novel photo-biocatalytic method of deracemization of secondary alcohols using visible light and recombinant alcohol dehydrogenases.

In the published work, we proved that the combination of both catalytic processes, i.e., photooxidation of racemic alcohols in the presence of 9-fluorenone in DMSO irradiated with blue light (440 nm) and bio-transhydrogenation of the resulting ketones using the enzymes mentioned above, in a sequential one-pot/two-step procedure, enables the synthesis of optically active alcohols in high yield (>90%) and excellent enantiomeric excess (>99%). It is worth mentioning that the newly developed asymmetric photo-biocatalytic method is efficient toward a broad substrate scope, while the obtained products of these transformations are chiral building blocks useful for the synthesis of valuable pharmaceuticals.

In addition, research on photo-biocatalytic cascade processes has led to a breakthrough discovery; namely, scientists from the LBB WUT have demonstrated that recombinant E. coli cells harboring alcohol dehydrogenases from Rhodococcus ruber (E. coli/ADH-A) and Lactobacillus kefir (E. coli/Lk-ADH) show unexpectedly high catalytic activity and stereoselectivity despite the strongly acidic pH (1.5-2.2) of the crude reaction mixture obtained after photooxidation of racemic substrates. The rationalization of this rather unprecedented phenomenon was supported by numerous validation experiments and their detailed analysis, providing the basis for a hypothetical mechanism for the formation of sulfur compounds with potential modulating properties against the enzymes, as mentioned above. The results of the conducted research may contribute to the initiation of new applications in bioorganic chemistry and biotechnology and play a key role in planning stereocontrolled syntheses of enantiomerically enriched high-added value products from chiral alcohols.  

Work on the impact of this effect on other classes of enzymes (i.e., transaminases), including verification of the scope of applicability of the developed method toward new substrates, is currently the basis of intensive research conducted by Dr. Borowiecki’s group. Taking advantage of this fact, we warmly invite all students interested in this research topic to cooperate with us to carry out similar scientific projects as part of their future engineering and/or M.Sc thesis.

The results of the study are described in a paper entitled: “One-Pot Sequential Two-Step Photo-Biocatalytic Deracemization of sec-Alcohols Combining Photocatalytic Oxidation and Bioreduction” and published in the very prestigious catalytic journal ACS Catalysis (ISSN: 2155-5435; IF: 13.7, 200 pts MEiN).

The article was written in tribute to Prof. Krzysztof Schmidt-Szałowski (1930-2023) and Prof. Przemysław Szczeciński (1946-2023), who passed away last year.

The research published in this paper was funded by the National Science Center (NCN) under the grant “OPUS 24” (No. 2022/47/B/ST4/00139)

More information can be found on the journal’s website: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acscatal.3c05100 or https://lbb-wut-borowiecki.ch.pw.edu.pl/publications/

02.2024

YOUNG PW II projects for our scientists!

Researchers from our chair received funding for their scientific projects as part of the YOUNG PW II competition financed by the “Excellence Initiative – Research University” program implemented at the Warsaw University of Technology.

Project manager: Dr. Karolina Drężek, project in cooperation with the University of Debrecen (Hungary) and the Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics of the Polish Academy of Sciences

“Hybridization as a tool in improving targeted biocompounds production – studies on synthetic Saccharomyces-based yeast hybrids”, PLN 149,960.

Project manager: Dr. Anna Sobiepanek, project in cooperation with BASF POLSKA

“Comprehensive in vitro studies of the influence of ceramides and their derivatives on the physiological and pathological processes occurring in the skin”, PLN 150,000.

 Congratulations and we wish you further success!

27.11.2023

OPUS 25 and PRELUDIUM 22 projects for our scientists!

20.11.2023

Professor Mieczysław Chorąży Scholarship for Dr. Anna Sobiepanek

The scholarship was founded to honor and commemorate Professor Mieczysław Chorąży (1925-2021), a great man and an outstanding Polish researcher who conducted cancer research at the Institute of Oncology in Gliwice for seven decades. The aim of the Scholarship is to reward outstanding young scientists working in Polish research institutions and to encourage them to continue research. Scholarship named after The Professor Mieczysław Chorąży Award is awarded to one candidate every year from 2021.

This year, out of 26 outstanding young scientists conducting cancer research, the Scientific Committee, based on their overall achievements, decided to award this prestigious scholarship to Dr. Anna Sobiepanek from the Biomolecular Interactions Research Laboratory, Department of Biotechnology of Medicinal Products and Cosmetics.

The founder of the Professor Mieczysław Chorąży Scholarship is the Association for the Support of Cancer Research.

On November 16-17, 2023, during the international conference XXVII Gliwice Scientific Meetings 2023, Dr. Anna Sobiepanek received a diploma confirming the award of this prestigious scholarship. Moreover, Dr. Sobiepanek was invited to deliver a special lecture, which took place on the second day of the conference.

Congratulations!