Biomolecules in Non-aqueous Media, from Small Molecules to Macromolecules

Dear Colleagues,

The aim of this Special Issue on “Biomolecules in Non-Aqueous Media, from Small Molecules to Macromolecules” is to bring new information on the applications of non-aqueous media, such as organic solvents, ionic liquids (ILs) and deep eutectic solvents (DES) in many areas of research and technology. Non-aqueous media can be a new applicable medium for many research and application areas, including material science, bio-separation science, food science biotechnology, nano-medicine, biocatalysis, new technologies for wastewater treatment and other energy-efficient bioprocessing.

Interest in ionic liquid solutions has increased in this research area, allowing it to soar past the point of being just a curiosity; there is now a collective extensive effort aimed at understanding these materials. As one example, there is a growing number of applications of ionic liquids in areas such as biomolecular extraction, synthesis, engineering, bio-separation, food applications and nano-based biocatalysis, protein engineering, protein crystallization, and many others. However, it is often the case that applications outpace the development of a complete and detailed understanding of molecular interactions. The importance of building a predictive capability becomes necessarily and progressively more important. Appropriately, much of the research published to date (both theoretical and experimental) has focused on neat ionic liquids. However, as the diversity of applications continues to expand, designer solvent systems, such as IL+ molecular co-solvents, DES+co-solvent, etc., are under investigation to enhance their utility further.

The goal of this Special Issue is to highlight new results from both computational and experimental research that discuss the properties and applications of biomolecules in modified aqueous and non-aqueous solutions, to advance a more complete understanding of these systems. This Special Issue is not limited to ionic liquids. We wish to establish a broad scope, to include the many interesting areas of active research that study non-aqueous biomolecular systems. The chemistry, physics, and engineering of non-aqueous biomolecular solutions require both experimental and theoretical approaches to achieve the desired understanding of the underpinnings of the biomolecular interactions that drive the widening array of applications. We cordially invite submissions that describe research in these areas.

Dr. Mark P. Heitz
Dr. Babak Minofar
Guest Editors

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