Part I. Enzymatic synthesis of lactate and glycolate esters of fatty alcohols

Cutinase ACut2 from Blastobotrysraffinosifermentans for the Selective Desymmetrization of the Symmetric Diester Diethyl Adipate to the Monoester Monoethyl Adipate

Monoethyl adipate (MEA) is a highly valuable monoester for activating resistance mechanisms and improving protective effects in pathogen-attacked plants. The cutinase ACut2 from the non-conventional yeast Blastobotrys (Arxula) raffinosifermentans (adeninivorans) was used for its synthesis by the desymmetrization of dicarboxylic acid diester diethyl adipate (DEA). Up to 78% MEA with 19% diacid adipic acid (AA) as by-product could be synthesized by the unpurified ACut2 culture supernatant from the B. raffinosifermentans overexpression strain. By adjusting pH and enzyme concentration, the selectivity of the free ACut2 culture supernatant was increased, yielding 95% MEA with 5% AA. Selectivity of the carrier immobilized ACut2 culture supernatant was also improved by pH adjustment during immobilization, as well as carrier enzyme loading, ultimately yielding 93% MEA with an even lower AA concentration of 3–4%. Thus, optimizations enabled the selective hydrolysis of DEA into MEA with only a minor AA impurity. In the up-scaling, a maximum of 98% chemical and 87.8% isolated MEA yield were obtained by the adsorbed enzyme preparation with a space time yield of 2.6 g L⁻¹ h⁻¹. The high monoester yields establish the ACut2-catalyzed biosynthesis as an alternative to existing methods.

Autocatalyzed and heterogeneously catalyzed esterification kinetics of glycolic acid with ethanol

In this study, the kinetics of the esterification of glycolic acid with ethanol homogeneously autocatalyzed and heterogeneously catalyzed are investigated.

A new lipase (Alip2) with high potential for enzymatic hydrolysis of the diester diethyladipate to the monoester monoethyladipate

Several putative lipase genes from the genome of the yeast Blastobotrys (Arxula) raffinosifermentans (adeninivorans) LS3 were overexpressed in the yeast itself and screened for the desymmetrization of the dicarboxylic acid diester diethyl adipate (DEA) into the monoester monoethyl adipate (MEA). MEA can serve as a monomeric spacer group for functional polymers used in medical chemistry and dental applications. The selected lipase Alip2-c6hp was intracellularly located. After overexpression of the corresponding gene, it was purified and biochemically characterized using p-nitrophenyl butyrate as the substrate for standard activity tests. In fed-batch cultivation with constructed yeast strain B. raffinosifermentans G1212/YRC102-Alip2-c6h for large scale production of the Alip2-c6hp biocatalyst enzyme activities up to 674 U L^-1 were reached. Several tested diesters were hydrolyzed selectively to monoesters. Under optimized conditions, the purified enzyme Alip2p-c6h converted 96 % of the substrate DEA to MEA within 30 min incubation, whereby only 1.6 % of the unwanted side-product adipic acid (AA) was formed. At room temperature the dicarboxylic acid esters diethyl malonate (DEM), diethyl succinate (DES), dimethyl adipate (DMA) and dimethyl suberate (DMSub) were completely hydrolyzed to their corresponding monoesters. A high yield of 87 % and 25 % could also be achieved with the dioldiesters 1,4-diacetoxybutane (DAB) and diacetoxyhexane (DAH). In conclusion the potential of the lipase Alip2-c6hp expressed in B. raffinosifermentans is very promising for selective hydrolysis of DEA to MEA as well as for the production of other monoesters.

Lipase-Catalyzed Synthesis, Properties Characterization, and Application of Bio-Based Dimer Acid Cyclocarbonate

Dimer acid cyclocarbonate (DACC) is synthesized from glycerol carbonate (GC) and Sapium sebiferum oil-derived dimer acid (DA, 9-[(Z)-non-3-enyl]-10-octylnonadecanedioic acid). Meanwhile, DACC can be used for synthetic materials of bio-based non-isocyanate polyurethane (bio-NIPU). In this study, DACC was synthesized by the esterification of dimer acid and glycerol carbonate using Novozym 435 (Candida antarctica lipase B) as the biocatalyst. Via the optimizing reaction conditions, the highest yield of 76.00% and the lowest acid value of 43.82 mg KOH/g were obtained. The product was confirmed and characterized by Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR). Then, the synthetic DACC was further used to synthesize bio-NIPU, which was examined by FTIR, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), indicating that it possesses very good physio-chemical properties and unique material quality with a potential prospect in applications.

Enzymatic synthesis of bioactive compounds with high potential for cosmeceutical application

Cosmeceuticals are cosmetic products containing biologically active ingredients purporting to offer a pharmaceutical therapeutic benefit. The active ingredients can be extracted and purified from natural sources (botanicals, herbal extracts, or animals) but can also be obtained biotechnologically by fermentation and cell cultures or by enzymatic synthesis and modification of natural compounds. A cosmeceutical ingredient should possess an attractive property such as anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, skin whitening, anti-aging, anti-wrinkling, or photoprotective activity, among others. During the past years, there has been an increased interest on the enzymatic synthesis of bioactive esters and glycosides based on (trans)esterification, (trans)glycosylation, or oxidation reactions. Natural bioactive compounds with exceptional theurapeutic properties and low toxicity may offer a new insight into the design and development of potent and beneficial cosmetics. This review gives an overview of the enzymatic modifications which are performed currently for the synthesis of products with attractive properties for the cosmeceutical industry.

Enzymatic Transesterification of Kraft Lignin with Long Acyl Chains in Ionic Liquids

Valorization of lignin is essential for the economic viability of the biorefinery concept. For example, the enhancement of lignin hydrophobicity by chemical esterification is known to improve its miscibility in apolar polyolefin matrices, thereby helping the production of bio-based composites. To this end and due to its many reactive hydroxyl groups, lignin is a challenging macromolecular substrate for biocatalyzed esterification in non-conventional media. The present work describes for the first time the lipase-catalyzed transesterification of Kraft lignin in ionic liquids (ILs). Three lipases, three 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium based ILs and ethyl oleate as long chain acyl donor were selected. Best results were obtained with a hydrophilic/hydrophobic binary IL system (1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium trifluoromethanesulfonate/1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluoro- phosphate, 1/1 v/v) and the immobilized lipase B from Candida antarctica (CALB) that afforded a promising transesterification yield (ca. 30%). Similar performances were achieved by using 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate as a coating agent for CALB rather than as a co-solvent in 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium trifluoromethane-sulfonate thus limiting the use of hydrophobic IL. Structural characterization of lignin oleate was performed by spectroscopic studies (FTIR and ¹H-NMR). The synthesized lignin oleate exhibited interesting thermal and textural properties, different from those of the original Kraft lignin.

Development of a hybrid fermentation-enzymatic bioprocess for the production of ethyl lactate from dairy waste

This work explores the potential for the development of a hybrid fermentation-enzymatic process for the production of ethyl lactate from dairy waste. Cheese whey was used in Kluyveromyces marxianus and Lactobacillus bulgaricus batch cultures to produce ethanol and lactic acid respectively. Subsequently, the fermentation products were transferred into an organic phase through liquid-liquid extraction and ethyl lactate was formed in an esterification reaction catalyzed by lipases. The production of ethanol and lactic acid achieved under different conditions was 23gL(-1) and 29gL(-1), respectively. Furthermore, the efficiency of various organic solvents for the esterification reaction was evaluated and toluene was chosen for application in the process. The effect of water content was determined aiming to maximize the product yield and 40mgml(-1) was the optimal enzyme concentration. The bioprocess achieved maximum conversion of 33% constituting a valuable alternative to the application of energy demanding chemically derived methods.

Ester synthesis from trimethylammonium alcohols in dry organic media catalyzed by immobilized Candida antarctica lipase B

Twenty-one different organic solvents were assayed as possible reaction media for the synthesis of butyryl esters from trimethylammonium alcohols in dry conditions catalyzed by immobilized Candida antarctica lipase B. The reactions were carried out following a transesterification kinetic approach, using choline and L-carnitine as primary and secondary trimethylammonium alcohols, respectively, and vinyl butyrate as acyl donor. The synthetic activity of the enzyme was strictly dependent on the water content, the position of the hydroxyl group in the trimethylammonium molecule, and the Log P parameter of the assayed solvent. Anhydrous conditions and a high excess of vinyl butyrate over L-carnitine were necessary to synthesize butyryl-L-carnitine. The synthetic reaction rates of butyryl choline were practically 100-fold those of butyryl-L-carnitine with all the assayed solvents. In both cases, the synthetic activity of the enzyme was dependent on the hydrophobicity of the solvent, with the optimal reaction media showing a Log P parameter of between -0.5 and 0.5. In all cases, 2-methyl-2-propanol and 2-methyl-2-butanol were shown to be the best solvents for both their high synthetic activity and negligible loss of enzyme activity after 6 days.

Part III. Direct enzymatic esterification of lactic acid with fatty acids

Lipase catalyzed esterification reactions between lactic acid and several fatty acids have been studied. Difficulties arise in esterifying lactic acid because of the potential for this substance to act both as an acyl donor and as a nucleophile. These difficulties were minimized via strategies which greatly increased the yield of the desired ester. Use of the companion fatty acid in excess with respect to lactic acid in an apolar solvent (n-hexane) in which the lactic is not completely dissolved has been employed to minimize the potential for lactic acid to act as an acyl donor in a self-polymerization reaction.Beneficial and sinergistic effects of both silica gel and molecular sieves on conversion to the desired product are described. However, careful control of the amount of molecular sieves used is required. This fact is a consequence of two opposing effects of this material: i.e. adsorption of both lactic acid and water from the reaction mixture. For reaction between caprylic and lactic acids, use of an excessive amount of enzyme reduces the extent of conversion to 2-O-caproyl-lactic acid.A very pure ester of the L-enantiomer (optical rotation of [alpha]D(25) = -23.5) can be prepared in n-hexane using a four fold excess of caprylic acid and Candida antarctica lipase. Optimum reaction conditions lead to 35% yield of 2-O-caproyl-lactic acid, a result which is close to the maximum yield that can be enantioselectively obtained from commercial grade lactic acid (68 mole per cent monomer).

Lipase catalyzed synthesis of organic acid esters of lactic acid in non-aqueous media

Lipases from Rhizomucor miehei (Lipozyme IM20) and porcine pancreas (PPL) were employed as catalysts for the esterification reaction between the hydroxyl group of lactic acid and the carboxyl group of organic acids. Reactions were carried out at both shake-flask and bench-scale levels. Various parameters, such as solvent, temperature, substrate and enzyme concentrations, effect of buffer volume, buffer pH and water volume, were investigated for optimization of yields. While ethylmethyl ketone (EMK) was found to be the best solvent for shake-flask reactions, chloroform gave higher yields at bench-scale level. Detailed studies were carried out with respect to the synthesis of palmitoyl and stearoyl lactic acids. At shake-flask level, maximum yields of 37.5 and 40% were observed in case of palmitoyl and stearoyl lactic acids, respectively, with Lipozyme IM20; at bench-scale level, the maximum yields were 85.1 and 99% respectively, when PPL was employed. Of all the organic acids employed (C(2)--C(18)), only lauric, palmitic and stearic acids gave yields above 50%. At bench-scale level, PPL could be reused for up to three cycles with yields above 40%. Esters prepared were found to conform to Food Chemical Codex (FCC) specifications in terms of acid value, ester value, sodium and lactic acid contents.