Biocatalysis in Supercritical Fluids, in Fluorous Solvents, and under Solvent-Free Conditions

Helen Hobbs studied biochemistry and biological chemistry at the University of Nottingham where she obtained her degree in 2002. In September 2002, she started her Ph.D. in the Clean Technology Group at the University of Nottingham under the supervision of Prof. Martyn Poliakoff and Dr. Neil Thomas. Her research was focused on solubilizing biomolecules in fluorous solvents and supercritical carbon dioxide, including an in-depth characterization and activity study on these modified enzymes. She also studied the activity of cross-linked enzyme aggregates in supercritical carbon dioxide in collaboration with Prof. Roger Sheldon. After completion of her Ph.D. in November 2006, she started a postdoc at the School of Chemical, Environmental and Mining Engineering in collaboration with the Institute of Cell Signaling at the University of Nottingham. She is currently researching the hydrothermal synthesis of fluorescent nanoparticles for use in cell imaging, under the supervision of Dr. Ed Lester and Dr. Steve Briddon.

Neil R. Thomas was awarded a first-class B.Sc. (Honors) degree from the University of Southampton in 1987 and continued working there, under the supervision of Prof. David Gani, for his Ph.D. on the mechanisms of ammonia-lyases and pyridoxal 5‘-phosphate-dependent enzymes. In 1990, during the final months of his Ph.D., the research group moved to the University of St. Andrews, where he completed his doctorate degree overlooking the Old Course. For the next 2 years, he worked under the supervision of Prof. Stephen J. Benkovic at Pennsylvania State University, State College, on the generation of catalytic antibodies, funded by a NATO/SERC postdoctoral research fellowship. In 1992, he returned to take up a Royal Society University Research Fellowship initially in the School of Chemistry at Bath and then in Chemistry at the University of Nottingham in 1995. He is currently an Associate Professor at the University of Nottingham, and his research interests include biocatalysis in unusual solvents, developing inhibitors of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Staphylococcus aureus cell wall biosynthesis, constructing small protein scaffolds as antibody replacements and minienzymes, developing uses for near-infrared quantum dots in biology, and late 19th/early 20th century architecture.