Across the Board: Brent H. Shanks

Abstract

In this series of articles, the board members of ChemSusChem discuss recent research that they consider of exceptional quality and importance for sustainability. In this contribution, Prof. Brent H. Shanks discusses the importance of biobased platform technologies for chemical syntheses. One of these technologies includes the appropriate design of biobased catalysts (i.e., enzymes), their incorporation into host systems such as microbes. As well as how the biocatalysis systems can be coupled with chemical catalysis.

The Politics ofIDPEducation Provision: Negotiating identity and schooling in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq

“…The two Iraqi education systems differ in terms of delivery and structure. The KRG regional education system has moved away from the central system, with a different updated curriculum that reflects the place of the Kurds in Iraqi history (Shanks, 2015). Furthermore, they have restructured the Kurdish school year, which has been divided into two semesters, each ending in final exams.…”

“…The districts from which they fled in the Ninewa governorate have been highly contested between Baghdad and Erbil since 2003. Thus, prior to IS takeover, the administration of these districts, known as the Disputed Internal Boundaries, was mixed between the two regional powers, with an often-overlapping system of service delivery based on language and identity (Shanks, 2015). Subsequently, education in the region was managed through a complicated mix of both the KRG and Ministry of Education, Baghdad involvement.…”

Coupling chemical and biological catalysis: a flexible paradigm for producing biobased chemicals

“…In contrast, biological transformations have the advantage of being highly selective for the activation of these bonds, although biological catalysis is not necessarily well-suited for producing drop-in replacements for petrochemicals. Consequently, we suggest [6,8,11] that biological catalysis can be used as the front-end for biomass upgrading strategies, allowing for the selective defunctionalization of sugars to platform molecules that are suitable for conversion to final products using chemical catalysis. While the toolkit of synthetic biology can be used to directly produce drop-in replacements for petroleum [12], many of the necessary reactions are already practiced by the heterogeneous catalysis community.…”

“…Many of these molecules can be produced directly from sugars by polyketide biosynthesis [23,40], and certain species can be used to produce a variety of commodity chemicals. For example, triacetic acid lactone (TAL) can be converted to several valuable products, including sorbic acid and a variety of bifunctional C 5 ketones, C 6 lactones, and C 6 unsaturated acids [11,24]. The key advantage of platform molecules, such as TAL, lies in the ability to produce not only commodity species but also high value chemicals including various natural products [41] and anti-fungal species [42].…”

Dispersion of carbon nanotubes in aluminum improves radiation resistance

“…Second, Al is used in nuclear battery since it is reflective, and has low production rate of Bremsstrahlung radiation due to low atomic number. Thus it has been recommended for several components in designs of nuclear battery such as shielding, current collector 23 and electrode 24 . Al+CNT will increase the lifetime of nuclear battery because of better radiation resistance.…”