Tudorache, Simona M. Coman, and Vasile I. Parvulescu

Madalina Tudorache, Simona M. Coman, and Vasile I. Parvulescu  

Department of Organic Chemistry, Biochemistry and Catalysis, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania 

This chapter is an overview of architectures adopted for the catalytic/biocatalytic composites used in wide applications like the biomass valorization or fine chemical industry. On this perspective, the chapter updates the reader with the most fresh examples of construction designs and concepts considered for the synthesis of such composites. Their catalytic properties result from the introduction of catalytic functionalities and vary from inorganic metal species e.g., Ru, Ir, Pd, or Rh) to well-organized biochemical structures like enzymes e.g., lipase, peroxidase, (3-galactosidase) or whole cells. Catalytic/biocatalytic procedures for the biomass conversion into platform molecules e.g., glucose, GVL, Me-THF, sorbitol, succinic acid, and glycerol) and their further transformation into value-added products are detailed in order to make understandable the utility of these complex architectures and to associate the composite properties to their performances, versatility, and robustness. 

Keywords Nanocatalysis, hpase, peroxidase, ( -galactosidase, cellulose, glucose, sorbitol, glycerol, levulinic acid, succinic acid, gamma-valerolactone (GVL), methyl-tetrahydrofurane (Me-THF) 

Ashutosh Tiwari and Salam Titinchi (eds.) Advanced Catalytic Materials. (315-352) 2015 Scrivener Publishing LLC 

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