Enzymatic Polymerization of Phenolic Compounds by Oxidoreductases

The enzymatic polymerization of phenolic compounds has been generating interest in several fields such as food, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals. These compounds are employed for their antioxidant properties; however, their use is limited by their low solubility and thermal stability. Polymerization can improve their solubility and their thermal stability though and create new properties which are dependent on the molecular mass and the structure of polymers. The reaction yield, the polydispersity, the molecular mass, the structure and the properties of synthesized polymers can be controlled by the mode of control of the reaction and by the reaction conditions.Enzymatic polymerization of phenolic compounds by oxidoreductases analyze the processes used and the key factors (temperature, solvent, origin of the enzyme, structure of the substrate, reactor design, …) which control the polymerization of phenolic species by these oxidoreductase enzymes in order to obtain polymers with desired characteristics and properties.

Eudald Carbonell was born in Ribes de Freser (Girona, Spain) on 1953. He studied at the University School of Girona, the Autonomous University of Barcelona and the University of Paris. In 1986 he earned a Doctorate degree in Quaternary Geology from the University of Pierre and Marie Curie, Paris VI (1986), and in 1988 he earned a Doctorate in Geography and History from the University of Barcelona. In 1988 he began working at the University Rovira i Virgili of Tarragona as an Adjunct Associate Professor and in 1991 he became a Permanent Professor. Since 1999, he has been Head of the Prehistory Department at Rovira and Virgili University and he is currently Head Researcher for the Quaternary Human Autoecology Group at this same university and Director of the Catalan Institute of Human Paleoecology and Social Evolution (IPHES). He has participated in research and field work in Spain, France, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Georgia, Tajikistan, Algeria, Morocco, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, the United States, Mexico, Chile, Cuba, China and Australia among others. His most outstanding scientific milestones are his studies on the ancient settlements of the Iberian Peninsula. These lines of work led him to develop a multidisciplinary research program in the Sierra de Atapuerca (Burgos). Since 1991, Eudald Carbonell has been one of the co-directors alongside Dr. Juan Luis Arsuaga (Complutense University of Madrid) and Jose Maria Bermudez de Castro (National Research Centre on Human Evolution). In 1983, he started the excavations at Abric Romani (Capellades, Barcelona), the Neanderthal site that is the main subject of this book.