This project is concerned with two areas of importance in the development of bioprocesses for the production of high and intermediate-value biochemicals. The first concerns the use of aqueous two-phase polymer systems for the recovery of fermentation products. The research is directed at obtaining the molecular thermodynamic properties of these solutions and developing predictive models for phase behavior and partitioning of solute molecules between phases. The second area concerns the use of non-aqueous solvents for enhancing substrate solubility in enzymatically catalyzed reactions. Supercritical carbon dioxide, alone with selected entrainers, is used as a solvent for studying the kinetics of several commercially important reactions: cholesterol oxidation, interesterification of lipids, and various hydrolytic reactions which can be run "backwards".
