HLADH-catalyzed synthesis of β-amino acids, assisted by continuous electrochemical regeneration of NAD+ in a filter press microreactor

•Electrochemical microreactors applied to the NAD+ direct electroregeneration.•β-amino propanol enzymatically assisted oxidation by NADH successfully achieved.•Simulated Michaelis constants for HLADH and β-alanine or amino propanol reactions.

This work focuses on the use of electrochemical microreactors, applied to the direct electroregeneration of nicotinamide dinucleotide (NAD+) used in-situ for the enzymatically-assisted oxidation of the β-alanine. Mechanistic and chemical/electrochemical reactor approaches were investigated, to achieve satisfactory conversions (>80%) of the substrate in reasonable (1-2 days) reaction times; no fouling observed of the gold anode. An original method was proposed to limit the complexation effect of the produced β-alanine to the enzyme. Simulations of the overall system were achieved and an estimation of the required kinetic and Michaelis constants was proposed.