Technology Ventures’ Inventor Spotlight: Susanne Striegler

Susanne Striegler isn’t sure if she chose chemistry or chemistry chose her.

“Leverkusen in Germany is the hometown of Bayer, and that’s where I grew up,” explains the professor of chemistry and biochemistry at the U of A. “Everything there is chemistry and everything is related to chemistry. ‘Science for a better life’ is a slogan that hangs on banners and displays everywhere in town. You learn fairly early on that everything you see and everything you do is related to chemistry. From why paint sticks to a car to how to make removable lipstick.”

Her father was a chemist. Her brother is a chemist. She doesn’t even remember when she first began to take an interest in chemistry. When she was 6? 7? 8? It’s been an inextricable part of her life for as long as she can remember. And then there is her temperament.

“I don’t like to wait,” she says. “I’m not particularly patient, so if things are slow, I don’t like it. So making catalysts is possibly a given, right?”

Whether it’s due to nature or nurture, Striegler’s research interests now include catalysis, micro- and nanogels and carbohydrate transforming enzymes. Her work, as described on her faculty profile, states: “We use synthesis, catalysis, biochemistry and molecular recognition in combination with material science and computation in an interdisciplinary approach to design new potent glycosidase inhibitors, evaluate glycosidase structures, mechanisms and function, and provide new chemical tools for the study of biological events.”

Glycosidases are a class of enzymes that can be used as synthetic catalysts to break down biomass like plants, paper and pulp for biorefining. They are also useful in the manufacture of detergents, food products and pharmaceuticals. They have the potential to play a key role in transitioning from products that currently depend on hydrocarbons as base components to products that could be created with waste biomass instead.

“You can take biomass and break it down and you get a carbohydrate. If you leave it intact you can transform it into some other chemical you really need. You can transform it into pharmaceuticals. You can run your car, but you can do lots of other things, too. It’s usually easier to break things into small pieces than build something up from scratch. However, once you have a small defined piece, then you can possibly make something bigger and better.”

“Petrochemicals will run out,” Striegler adds. “We have a limited amount of oil and gas, so we need to access biorenewables, if we want to keep our standard of living after 2050.” Her goal is to derive from biomass the same range of products we currently derive from petrochemicals, which can be anything from fuel, solvents and fertilizers to cosmetics, medicines and plastics.

Ultimately, the goal of her work is to access simple carbohydrates, known as monosaccharides in their most basic form, from complex natural sources that can be reassembled into new products in an economically and sustainable way.

Toward that end, Striegler has two patents issued and a new patent application in process as of July 2024, all of which were filed through the U of A’s Technology Ventures Office (she also has an additional patent pending related to her work in antimicrobial nanogels).

With continued funding, Striegler’s goal is to have a breakthrough process for breaking down biomass into simple sugars within the next three years.

This story also appeared in the University of Arkansas News publication.