Insights into Cell-Free Conversion of CO₂ to Chemicals by a Multienzyme Cascade Reaction

Abstract

Multienzymatic cascade reactions have garnered the attention of many researchers as an approach for converting CO, into methanol. The cascade reaction used in this study includes the following enzymes: a formate dehydrogenase (CIFDH), a formaldehyde dehydrogenase (BmFaldDH), and an alcohol dehydrogenase (YADH) from Clostridium ljungdahlii, Burkholderia multivorans, and Saccharomyces cerevisiae, respectively. Because this cascade reaction requires NADH as a cofactor, phosphite dehydrogenase (PTDH) was employed to regenerate the cofactor. The multienzymatic cascade reaction, along with PTDH, yielded 3.28 mM methanol. The key to the success of this cascade reaction was a novel formaldehyde dehydrogenase, BmFaldDH, the enzyme catalyzing the reduction of formate to formaldehyde. The methanol yield was further improved by incorporation of 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate (EMIM-Ac), resulting in 7.86 mM of methanol. A 500-fold increase in total turnover number was observed for the CIFDH-BmFaldDH-YADH cascade system compared to the Candida boidinii FDH-Pseudomonas putida FaldDH-YADH system. We provided detailed insights into the enzymatic reduction of CO₂ by determining the thermodynamic parameters (K-d and Delta G) using isothermal titration calorimetry. Furthermore, we demonstrated a novel time-dependent formaldehyde production from CO₂. Our results will aid in the understanding and development of a robust multienzyme catalyzed cascade reaction for the reduction of CO₂ to value-added chemicals.