Synthesis of a green polyurethane foam from a biopolyol obtained by enzymatic glycerolysis and its use for immobilization of lipase NS-40116

A Brief Introduction to the Polyurethanes According to the Principles of Green Chemistry

Polyurethanes are most often called “green” when they contain natural, renewable additives in their network or chemical structure, such as mono- and polysaccharides, oils (mainly vegetable oils), polyphenols (e.g., lignins, tannins), or various compounds derived from agro-waste white biotechnology (Principle 7). This usually results in these polyurethanes obtained from less hazardous substrates (Principle 4). Appropriate modification of polyurethanes makes them susceptible to degradation, and the use of appropriate processes allows for their recycling (Principle 10). However, this fulfilment of other principles also predisposes them to be green. As in the production of other polymer materials, the synthesis of polyurethanes is carried out with the use of catalysts (such as biocatalysts) (Principle 9) with full control of the course of the reaction (Principle 11), which allows maximization of the atomic economy (Principle 2) and an increase in energy efficiency (Principle 6) while minimizing the risk of production waste (Principle 1). Moreover, traditional substrates in the synthesis of polyurethanes can be replaced with less toxic ones (e.g., in non-isocyanate polyurethanes), which, at the same time, leads to a non-toxic product (Principle 3, Principle 5). In general, there is no need for blocking compounds to provide intermediates in the synthesis of polyurethanes (Principle 8). Reasonable storage of substrates, their transport, and the synthesis of polyurethanes guarantee the safety and the prevention of uncontrolled reactions (Principle 12). This publication is a summary of the achievements of scientists and technologists who are constantly working to create ideal polyurethanes that do not pollute the environment, and their synthesis and use are consistent with the principles of sustainable economy.

Strategies for the Immobilization of Eversa® Transform 2.0 Lipase and Application for Phospholipid Synthesis

Eversa® Transform 2.0 lipase (ET2) is a recent lipase formulation derived from the Thermomyces lanuginosus lipase cultivated on Aspergillus oryzae and specially designed for biodiesel production. Since it has not been available for a long time, research on the efficiency of this enzyme in other applications remains unexplored. Moreover, even though it has been launched as a free enzyme, its immobilization may extend the scope of ET2 applications. This work explored ET2 immobilization on octadecyl methacrylate beads (IB-ADS-3) and proved the efficiency of the derivatives for esterification of glycerophosphocholine (GPC) with oleic acid in anhydrous systems. ET2 immobilized via interfacial activation on commercial hydrophobic support Immobead IB-ADS-3 showed maximum enzyme loading of 160 mg/g (enzyme/support) and great stability for GPC esterification under 30% butanone and solvent-free systems. For reusability, yields above 63% were achieved after six reaction cycles for GPC esterification. Considering the very high enzyme loading and the number of reuses achieved, these results suggest a potential application of this immobilized biocatalyst for esterification reactions in anhydrous media. This study is expected to encourage the exploration of other approaches for this enzyme, thereby opening up several new possibilities.

Current Status and Future Perspectives of Supports and Protocols for Enzyme Immobilization

The market for industrial enzymes has witnessed constant growth, which is currently around 7% a year, projected to reach $10.5 billion in 2024. Lipases are hydrolase enzymes naturally responsible for triglyceride hydrolysis. They are the most expansively used industrial biocatalysts, with wide application in a broad range of industries. However, these biocatalytic processes are usually limited by the low stability of the enzyme, the half-life time, and the processes required to solve these problems are complex and lack application feasibility at the industrial scale. Emerging technologies create new materials for enzyme carriers and sophisticate the well-known immobilization principles to produce more robust, eco-friendlier, and cheaper biocatalysts. Therefore, this review discusses the trending studies and industrial applications of the materials and protocols for lipase immobilization, analyzing their advantages and disadvantages. Finally, it summarizes the current challenges and potential alternatives for lipases at the industrial level.

Immobilization of lipase on β-cyclodextrin grafted and aminopropyl-functionalized chitosan/Fe3O4 magnetic nanocomposites: An innovative approach to fruity flavor esters esterification

The lipase from Bacillus licheniformis NCU CS-5 was immobilized onto β-cyclodextrin (CD) grafted and aminopropyl-functionalized chitosan-coated Fe₃O₄ magnetic nanocomposites (Fe₃O₄-CTS-APTES-GA-β-CD). Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetry analysis, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy showed that not only the functionalized magnetic nanoparticles were synthesized but also the immobilized lipase was successfully produced. The immobilized lipase exhibited higher optimal pH value (10.5) and temperature (60℃) than the free lipase. The pH and thermal stabilities of the immobilized lipase were improved significantly compared to the free lipase. The immobilized lipase remained more than 80% of the relative activity at temperature of 60 ℃ and pH 12.0. The immobilized lipase also remained over 80% of its relative activity after 28 days of storage and 15 cycles of application. The application of the immobilized lipase in esterification of isoamyl acetate and pentyl valerate showed that maximum esterification efficiency was achieved in n-hexane having 68.0% and 89.2% respectively. Therefore, these results indicated that the Fe₃O₄-CTS-APTES-GA-β-CD nanoparticles are novel carriers for immobilizing enzyme, and the immobilized lipase can be used as an innovative green approach to the synthesis of fruity flavor esters in food industry.

Challenges and perspectives of the β-galactosidase enzyme

The enzyme β-galactosidase has great potential for application in the food and pharmaceutical industries due to its ability to perform the hydrolysis of lactose, a disaccharide present in milk and in dairy by-products. It can be used in free form, in batch processes, or in immobilized form, which allows continuous operation and provides greater enzymatic stability. The choice of method and support for enzyme immobilization is essential, as the performance of the biocatalyst is strongly influenced by the properties of the material used and by the interaction mechanisms between support and enzyme. Therefore, this review showed the main enzyme immobilization techniques, and the most used supports for the constitution of biocatalysts. Also, materials with the potential for immobilization of β-galactosidases and the importance of their biotechnological application are presented. KEY POINTS: • The main methods of immobilization are physical adsorption, covalent bonding, and crosslinking. • The structural conditions of the supports are determining factors in the performance of the biocatalysts. • Enzymatic hydrolysis plays an important role in the biotechnology industry.

Immobilization of Eversa® Transform via CLEA Technology Converts It in a Suitable Biocatalyst for Biolubricant Production Using Waste Cooking Oil

The performance of the previously optimized magnetic cross-linked enzyme aggregate of Eversa (Eversa-mCLEA) in the enzymatic synthesis of biolubricants by transesterification of waste cooking oil (WCO) with different alcohols has been evaluated. Eversa-mCLEA showed good activities using these alcohols, reaching a transesterification activity with isoamyl alcohol around 10-fold higher than with methanol. Yields of isoamyl fatty acid ester synthesis were similar using WCO or refined oil, confirming that this biocatalyst could be utilized to transform this residue into a valuable product. The effects of WCO/isoamyl alcohol molar ratio and enzyme load on the synthesis of biolubricant were also investigated. A maximum yield of around 90 wt.% was reached after 72 h of reaction using an enzyme load of 12 esterification units/g oil and a WCO/alcohol molar ratio of 1:6 in a solvent-free system. At the same conditions, the liquid Eversa yielded a maximum ester yield of only 34%. This study demonstrated the great changes in the enzyme properties that can be derived from a proper immobilization system. Moreover, it also shows the potential of WCO as a feedstock for the production of isoamyl fatty acid esters, which are potential candidates as biolubricants.

A comprehensive review on incredible renewable carriers as promising platforms for enzyme immobilization & thereof strategies

Enzymes are the highly versatile bio-catalysts having the potential for being employed in biotechnological and industrial sectors to catalyze biosynthetic reactions over a commercial point of view. Immobilization of enzymes has improved catalytic properties, retention activities, thermal and storage stabilities as well as reusabilities of enzymes in synthetic environments that have enthralled significant attention over the past few years. Dreadful efforts have been emphasized on the renewable and synthetic supports/composite materials to reserve their inherent characteristics such as biocompatibility, non-toxicity, accessibility of numerous reactive sites for profitable immobilization of biological molecules that often serve diverse applications in the pharmaceutical, environmental, and energy sectors. Supports should be endowed with unique physicochemical properties including high specific surface area, hydrophobicity, hydrophilicity, enantioselectivities, multivalent functionalization which professed them as competent carriers for enzyme immobilization. Organic, inorganic, and nano-based platforms are more potent, stable, highly recovered even after used for continuous catalytic processes, broadly renders the enzymes to get efficiently immobilized to develop an inherent bio-catalytic system that displays higher activities as compared to free-counter parts. This review highlights the recent advances or developments on renewable and synthetic matrices that are utilized for the immobilization of enzymes to deliver emerging applications around the globe.

Composites of Crosslinked Aggregates of Eversa® Transform and Magnetic Nanoparticles. Performance in the Ethanolysis of Soybean Oil

Eversa® Transform 2.0 has been launched to be used in free form, but its immobilization may improve its performance. This work aimed to optimize the immobilization of Eversa® Transform 2.0 by the crosslinked enzyme aggregates (CLEAs) technique, using almost all the available tools to improve its performance. Several variables in the CLEA preparation were optimized to improve the recovered activity, such as precipitant nature and crosslinker concentration. Moreover, some feeders were co-precipitated to improve the crosslinking step, such as bovine serum albumin, soy protein, or polyethyleneimine. Starch (later enzymatically degraded) was utilized as a porogenic agent to decrease the substrate diffusion limitations. Silica magnetic nanoparticles were also utilized to simplify the CLEA handling, but it was found that a large percentage of the Eversa activity could be immobilized on these nanoparticles before aggregation. The best CLEA protocol gave a 98.9% immobilization yield and 30.1% recovered activity, exhibited a porous structure, and an excellent performance in the transesterification of soybean oil with ethanol: 89.8 wt% of fatty acid ethyl esters (FAEEs) yield after 12 h of reaction, while the free enzyme required a 48 h reaction to give the same yield. A caustic polishing step of the product yielded a biodiesel containing 98.9 wt% of FAEEs and a free fatty acids content lower than 0.25%, thus the final product met the international standards for biodiesel. The immobilized biocatalyst could be reused for at least five 12 h-batches maintaining 89.6% of the first-batch yield, showing the efficient catalyst recovery by applying an external magnetic field.

Immobilization of lipase Eversa Transform 2.0 on poly(urea-urethane) nanoparticles obtained using a biopolyol from enzymatic glycerolysis

In this work, the free lipase Eversa^® Transform 2.0 was used as a catalyst for enzymatic glycerolysis reaction in a solvent-free system. The product was evaluated by nuclear magnetic resonance (¹H NMR) and showed high conversion related to hydroxyl groups. In sequence, the product of the glycerolysis was used as stabilizer and biopolyol for the synthesis of poly(urea-urethane) nanoparticles (PUU NPs) aqueous dispersion by the miniemulsion polymerization technique, without the use of a further surfactant in the system. Reactions resulted in stable dispersions of PUU NPs with an average diameter of 190 nm. After, the formation of the PUU NPs in the presence of concentrated lipase Eversa^® Transform 2.0 was studied, aiming the lipase immobilization on the NP surface, and a stable enzymatic derivative with diameters around 231 nm was obtained. The hydrolytic enzymatic activity was determined using ρ-nitrophenyl palmitate (ρ-NPP) and the immobilization was confirmed by morphological analysis using transmission electron microscopy and fluorescence microscopy.

Novozym 435: the “perfect” lipase immobilized biocatalyst?

Novozym 435 (N435) is a commercially available immobilized lipase produced by Novozymes with its advantages and drawbacks.