Polymerizations expected pressure development

The successful entrapment of enzymes within alkoxysilane-polymerized sol-gel matrices has been perhaps the most nontrivial molecular doping of these materials. The expected pressure development upon polymerizations, the release of alcohols, and the low probability that the active site will remain open to the pore size all made it quite improbable that this entrapment will succeed. Following the report of Braun et al. in 1990 [39] that in fact the opposite is true, and not only that such entrapments keep the enzymes alive, but their stability is also... 

The use of exotic media for biocatalytic polymerization has ranged from the extensive, and often fundamental, studies using supercritical C02, to more exploratory and recent reports for media such as ionic liquids and fhroro-solvents. In all cases, however, intriguing results have lead to further investigation. As increasing pressure is exerted upon scientists in both academia and industry alike to develop and commercialize greener reaction systems, it is expected that biocatalysis and reactions in these and other exotic solvents will continue to be of considerable interest into the future, as they have been over the previous decades. 

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