Continuous-Flow Biochemical Reactors: Biocatalysis, Bioconversion, and Bioanalytical Applications Utilizing Immobilized Microfluidic Enzyme Reactors

The utilization of continuous-flow biochemical reactors, including biocatalysis, biotransformation, and biochemical interaction based flow-analytical systems, and enzyme reactors are recently the focus of attention to produce fine biochemicals and also show great potential in bioanalytical applications. Continuous-flow biochemical processes implemented in microstructured reactors enable short development time to production scale utilizing enzymatic processes to efficiently fulfill the current needs of the fine biochemical and pharmaceutical industry. Immobilization of the enzymes is preferable because it usually enhances their stability, and in some instances, immobilized enzymes can even be reused multiple times. In this review on the continuous-flow biochemical reactors, first the enzyme immobilization strategies will be briefly discussed followed by summarizing the recent developments in the field of immobilized enzyme microflow reactors for biocatalysis, bioconversion and bioanalytical purposes.