Tandem Biocatalysis by CotA-TJ102@UIO-66-NH2 and Novozym 435 for Highly Selective Transformation of HMF into FDCA

2,5-Furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) is a potential biorenewable chemical for applications including plastics, polyamides, drugs, etc. The selective biosynthesis of FDCA from 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) by a specific enzyme poses a great challenge. In this study, we reported an efficient strategy to produce FDCA from HMF by the tandem biocatalysis of laccase (CotA-TJ102@UIO-66-NH2) and Novozym 435. For the first step, a nanoparticle metal–organic framework was synthesized as a carrier to immobilize CotA-TJ102@UIO-66-NH2, which was assigned for the production of 5-formyl-2-furancarboxylic acid (FFCA) and featured an enzyme loading of 255.54 mg/g, specific activity of 135.90 U/mg, and solid loading ratio of 99.65%. Under optimal conditions, an ideal FFCA yield of 98.5% was achieved, and the CotA-TJ102@UIO-66-NH2 presented a high recycling capacity after 10 cycles. For the second step, Novozym 435 was applied for the further conversion of FFCA into FDCA, presenting a high FDCA yield of 95.5% under the optimized conditions. Novozym 435 also exhibited a high recyclability after eight cycles. As a result, the tandem biocatalysis strategy provided a 94.2% FDCA yield from HMF, indicating its excellence as a method for FDCA production.