糖心原创

Faculty of Engineering
 

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Anca Pordea

Associate Professor, Faculty of Engineering

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Biography

I am an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Engineering at Nottingham and my expertise is in the development and application of biocatalysis to deliver a sustainable circular economy: from the degradation of polymer wastes to the production of high-value chemicals.

I graduated from the National Institute of Applied Research (INSA) in Rouen (France), with a master's in chemistry and chemical engineering (2004). I completed my PhD in Neuch芒tel (Switzerland), working on the development of artificial metalloenzymes with Prof. Thomas R. Ward (2008). After a Swiss National Science Foundation fellowship in Oxford (UK) and a postdoctoral position in Neuch芒tel, I joined the 糖心原创 as an Assistant Professor (2012), then Associate Professor (2024).

Expertise Summary

  • Biocatalysis for sustainable chemical reactions
  • Enzyme engineering
  • Enzyme immobilisation and biocatalytic flow reactors
  • Bioinorganic chemistry: natural and artificial metalloenzymes

Teaching Summary

I am a member of the Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering. I teach core chemical engineering principles like separations, and I am passionate about the role of biotechnology in… read more

Research Summary

I am a member of the Food, Water, Waste Research Group in the Faculty of Engineering.

I am interested in the design and engineering of enzymes with an expanded reaction scope, beyond what they have naturally evolved to catalyse. Enzymes are "nature's catalysts", they work with high efficiency and they are made from renewable resources, making them ideal candidates to improve the sustainability of chemical reactions. We use them as sustainable alternatives for the production of high value chemicals and for the degradation of polymer waste.

Past and current projects in my group include:

  • - Engineering of enzymes for the degradation of synthetic polymers (rubber, plastics)
  • - Enzyme immobilisation within 3D printed reactor cores for continuous flow biocatalysis
  • - Incorporation of metal-based chemical catalysts into protein scaffolds (artificial metalloenzymes)
  • - Engineering of thermostable carbonic anhydrases for CO2 capture

We have expertise in enzyme engineering, enzyme immobilisation, expression and purification of recombinant enzymes, bioconjugation of small molecules and metal complexes to proteins.

Selected Publications

  • CREUS, M., PORDEA, A., ROSSEL, T., SARDO, A., LETONDOR, C., IVANOVA, A., LETRONG, I., STENKAMP, R.E. and WARD, T.R., 2008. Angewandte Chemie International Edition. 47(8), 1400-1404
  • PORDEA A, CREUS M, PANEK J, DUBOC C, MATHIS D, NOVIC M and WARD TR, 2008. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 130, 8085-8088
  • WARD TR and PORDEA A, 2012. Enantioselective hybrid catalysts. In: Comprehensive chirality Synthetic methods VI: enzymatic and semi-enzymatic. Elsevier. 516-552

I am a member of the Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering. I teach core chemical engineering principles like separations, and I am passionate about the role of biotechnology in achieving UN Sustainable Development Goals. I convene or participate in the following modules:

  • Separation and Particle Technologies, Year 2 undergraduate, module convenor. Students learn core chemical engineering principles for the design of unit operations such as distillation, absorption / stripping and drying equipment
  • Materials and Sustainable Processes, Year 2 undergraduate. I deliver principles of bioprocessing.
  • Advanced Biochemical Engineering, Year 4 undergraduate and MSc, module convenor. Students learn the design and industrial applications of enzymatic reactors and of microbial bioreactors.
  • Research and Design Project, Year 4 undergraduate. I supervise MEng projects in enzymatic industrial processes, such as the removal of pollutants from wastewater.

Future Research

I welcome enquiries from potential PhD candidates from Home, EU and international countries who are interested in the following research areas: catalysis, biocatalysis, enzyme engineering, artificial metalloenzymes, rational design.

  • ATTWOOD, SIMON J, LEECH, DAMIEN, HE, YINFENG, CROFT, ANNA K, HAGUE, RICHARD JM, IRVINE, DEREK J, WILDMAN, RICKY D and PORDEA, ANCA, 2025. High resolution 3D printed biocatalytic reactor core with optimized efficiency for continuous flow synthesis Chemical Engineering Science. 305, 121156
  • EMILY G. DIXON, EMILY CHAU, LUISA CIANO, ANCA PORDEA, KAREN ALVEY and VINCENZO TARESCO, 2025. Journal of Polymer Science. 1-8
  • EMILY G. DIXON, LUISA CIANO, ANCA PORDEA, KAREN ALVEY and VINCENZO TARESCO, 2025. Polymer Chemistry. 16(26), 2997-3029
  • MARIA L. CASSIOLI, MICHAEL FAY, LYUDMILA TURYANSKA, TRACEY D. BRADSHAW, NEIL R. THOMAS and ANCA PORDEA, 2024. RSC Advances. 14(20), 14008-14016
  • AZIANA ABU HASSAN, MARKO HAN沤EVA膶KI and ANCA PORDEA, 2024. PLoS ONE. 19(5), e0302398
  • MATTIAS BASLE, HENRY AW PADLEY, FLORIANE L. MARTINS, GERLOF SEBASTIAAN WINKLER, CHRISTOF M. J脛GER and ANCA PORDEA, 2021. Journal of Inorganic Biochemistry. 220, 111446
  • PARRA-CRUZ, R., JAGER, C. M., LI LAU, P., GOMES, R. L. and PORDEA, A., 2018. Rational Design of Thermostable Carbonic Anhydrase Mutants Using Molecular Dynamics Simulations: Journal of Physical Chemistry B Journal of Physical Chemistry B. 122(36), 8526-8536
  • MORRA, S. and PORDEA, A., 2018. Chemical Science. 9(38), 7447-7454
  • DOUGLAS, T., PORDEA, A. and DOWDEN, J., 2017. Organic Letters. 19(23), 6396-6399
  • PORDEA, ANCA, 2015. CURRENT OPINION IN CHEMICAL BIOLOGY. 25, 124-132
  • WARD TR and PORDEA A, 2012. Enantioselective hybrid catalysts. In: Comprehensive chirality Synthetic methods VI: enzymatic and semi-enzymatic. Elsevier. 516-552
  • BRUYNEEL F, LETONDOR C, BAST脺RK B, GUALANDI A, PORDEA A, STOECKLI-EVANS H and NEIER R, 2012. Catalytic epoxidation of alkenes by the manganese complex of a reduced porphyrinogen macrocycle Adv. Synth. Cat. 354, 428-440
  • PORDEA A, STOECKLI-EVANS H, DALVIT C and NEIER R, 2012. Helv. Chim. Acta. 95, 2249-2264
  • K脰HLER V, MAO J, HEINISCH T, PORDEA A, SARDO A, WILSON YM, KN脰RR L, CREUS M, PROST JC, SCHIRMER T and WARD TR, 2011. OsO4鈰卻treptavidin: A tunable hybrid catalyst for the enantioselective cis-dihydroxylation of olefins Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 50, 10863-10866
  • PORDEA A, CREUS M, LETONDOR C, IVANOVA A and WARD TR, 2010. Inorg. Chim. Acta. 363, 601-604
  • PORDEA A, MATHIS D and WARD TR, 2009. J. Organomet. Chem. 694, 930-936
  • PORDEA A and WARD TR, 2009. Artificial metalloenzymes: combining the best features of homogeneous and enzymatic catalysis Synlett. 20, 3225-3236
  • CREUS, M., PORDEA, A., ROSSEL, T., SARDO, A., LETONDOR, C., IVANOVA, A., LETRONG, I., STENKAMP, R.E. and WARD, T.R., 2008. Angewandte Chemie International Edition. 47(8), 1400-1404
  • PORDEA A, CREUS M, PANEK J, DUBOC C, MATHIS D, NOVIC M and WARD TR, 2008. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 130, 8085-8088
  • PORDEA A, 2008. Chem. Commun. 4239-4249
  • LETONDOR C, PORDEA A, HUMBERT N, IVANOVA A, MAZUREK S, NOVIC M and WARD TR, 2006. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 128, 8320-8328
  • Encapsulation of copper phenanthroline within horse spleen apoferritin: characterisation, cytotoxic activity and ability to retain temozolomide
  • FLORIANE MARTINS, ANCA PORDEA and CHRISTOF M. J脛GER, Faraday Discussions. 234, 315-335

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