Anca Pordea

Contact

• workRoom B27 Coates
  University Park
  Nottingham
  NG7 2RD
  UK
• Anca.Pordea@nottingham.ac.uk

Biography

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 Neuchâtel (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 Neuchâtel, I joined the University of Nottingham as an Assistant Professor (2012), then Associate Professor (2024).

In the Faculty of Engineering at Nottingham, I lead research on 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 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 Neuchâtel (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 Neuchâtel, I joined the University of Nottingham 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. X-ray structure and designed evolution of an artificial transfer hydrogenase Angewandte Chemie International Edition. 47(8), 1400-1404
• PORDEA A, CREUS M, PANEK J, DUBOC C, MATHIS D, NOVIC M and WARD TR, 2008. Artificial metalloenzyme for enantioselective sulfoxidation based on vanadyl-loaded streptavidin 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

• View all publications

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. D-Optimal Design for Enzymatic Ring-Opening Polymerization of ε-Caprolactone: Toward Sustainable Polyester Synthesis Using Biobased Solvents. Journal of Polymer Science. 1-8
• EMILY G. DIXON, LUISA CIANO, ANCA PORDEA, KAREN ALVEY and VINCENZO TARESCO, 2025. Harnessing enzymes for greener polymerisations: advances in chain and step growth processes Polymer Chemistry. 16(26), 2997-3029
• MARIA L. CASSIOLI, MICHAEL FAY, LYUDMILA TURYANSKA, TRACEY D. BRADSHAW, NEIL R. THOMAS and ANCA PORDEA, 2024. Encapsulation of copper phenanthroline within horse spleen apoferritin: characterisation, cytotoxic activity and ability to retain temozolomide RSC Advances. 14(20), 14008-14016
• AZIANA ABU HASSAN, MARKO HANŽEVAČKI and ANCA PORDEA, 2024. Computational investigation of cis-1,4-polyisoprene binding to the latex-clearing protein LcpK30 PLoS ONE. 19(5), e0302398
• MATTIAS BASLE, HENRY AW PADLEY, FLORIANE L. MARTINS, GERLOF SEBASTIAAN WINKLER, CHRISTOF M. JÄGER and ANCA PORDEA, 2021. Design of artificial metalloenzymes for the reduction of nicotinamide cofactors 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. Biocatalyst-artificial metalloenzyme cascade based on alcohol dehydrogenase: Chemical Science Chemical Science. 9(38), 7447-7454
• DOUGLAS, T., PORDEA, A. and DOWDEN, J., 2017. Iron-Catalyzed Indolizine Synthesis from Pyridines, Diazo Compounds, and Alkynes: Organic Letters Organic Letters. 19(23), 6396-6399
• PORDEA, ANCA, 2015. Metal-binding promiscuity in artificial metalloenzyme design 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, BASTÜRK 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. Synthesis and reactions of 2-[1-methyl-1-(pyrrolidin-2-yl)ethyl]-1H-pyrrole and some derivatives with aldehydes: chiral structures combining a secondary-amine group with an 1H-pyrrole moiety as excellent H-bond donor Helv. Chim. Acta. 95, 2249-2264
• KÖHLER V, MAO J, HEINISCH T, PORDEA A, SARDO A, WILSON YM, KNÖRR L, CREUS M, PROST JC, SCHIRMER T and WARD TR, 2011. OsO4⋅streptavidin: 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. Improving the enantioselectivity of artificial transfer hydrogenases based on the biotin-streptavidin technology by combinations of point mutations Inorg. Chim. Acta. 363, 601-604
• PORDEA A, MATHIS D and WARD TR, 2009. Incorporation of biotinylated manganese-salen complexes into streptavidin: new artificial metalloenzymes for enantioselective sulfoxidation 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. X-ray structure and designed evolution of an artificial transfer hydrogenase Angewandte Chemie International Edition. 47(8), 1400-1404
• PORDEA A, CREUS M, PANEK J, DUBOC C, MATHIS D, NOVIC M and WARD TR, 2008. Artificial metalloenzyme for enantioselective sulfoxidation based on vanadyl-loaded streptavidin J. Am. Chem. Soc. 130, 8085-8088
• PORDEA A, 2008. Chemogenetic protein engineering: an efficient tool for the optimization of artificial metalloenzymes Chem. Commun. 4239-4249
• LETONDOR C, PORDEA A, HUMBERT N, IVANOVA A, MAZUREK S, NOVIC M and WARD TR, 2006. Artificial transfer-hydrogenases based on the biotin-(strept)avidin technology: fine tuning the selectivity by saturation mutagenesis of the host protein 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. JÄGER, Computationally driven design of an artificial metalloenzyme using supramolecular anchoring strategies of iridium complexes to alcohol dehydrogenase Faraday Discussions. 234, 315-335