Lignin is a critical biopolymer for creating a large number of highly valuable biobased compounds. Vanillin, one of lignin-derived aromatics, can be used to synthesize vanillylamine that is a key fine chemical and pharmaceutical intermediate. To produce vanillylamine, a productive whole-cell-catalyzed biotransformation of vanillin was developed in deep eutectic solvent − surfactant − H₂O media. One newly created recombinant E. coli 30CA cells expressing ω-transaminase and L-alanine dehydrogenase was employed to transform 50 mM and 60 mM vanillin into vanillylamine in the yield of 82.2% and 8.5% under 40 °C, respectively. The biotransamination efficiency was enhanced by introducing surfactant PEG-2000 (40 mM) and deep eutectic solvent ChCl:LA (5.0 wt%, pH 8.0), and the highest vanillylamine yield reached 90.0% from 60 mM vanillin. Building an effective bioprocess was utilized for transamination of lignin-derived vanillin to vanillylamine with newly created bacteria in an eco-friendly medium, which had potential application for valorization of lignin to value-added compounds.

木质素是制造大量高价值生物基化合物的关键生物聚合物。香草醛是木质素衍生的芳香族化合物之一，可用于合成香草胺，香草胺是一种重要的精细化工和医药中间体。_{为了生产香草胺，在低共熔溶剂 - 表面活性剂 - H 2} O 介质中开发了一种高效的全细胞催化香草醛生物转化方法。采用一种新创建的表达ω-转氨酶和L-丙氨酸脱氢酶的重组大肠杆菌30CA细胞在40℃下将50 mM和60 mM香草醛转化为香草胺，收率分别为82.2%和8.5%。通过引入表面活性剂PEG-2000 (40 mM)和低共熔溶剂ChCl:LA (5.0 wt%, pH 8.0)提高了生物转氨效率，60 mM香草醛的香草胺收率最高达到90.0%。利用新创建的细菌在环保介质中构建有效的生物工艺，将木质素衍生的香草醛转氨为香草胺，这对于将木质素增值为增值化合物具有潜在的应用价值。