Production of formate from CO2 gas under ambient conditions: towards flow-through enzyme reactors

Abstract

A flow-through bi-enzymatic reactor was developed to produce formate from carbon dioxide gas (CO₂). The reaction operates under ambient conditions without hydrogen gas (H₂) and involves a high performance formate dehydrogenase from Methylobacterium extorquens AM1 (MeFoDH1). The tandem reaction features in situ regeneration of the nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (1,4-NADH) cofactor performed by a highly active mutant of the phosphite dehydrogenase from Pseudomonas stutzeri, without any side reaction. One of the highest turnover numbers reported to date in the literature was reached (6700) giving a high space–time yield of 0.6 mmol_formate min⁻¹ L⁻¹_reactor.