Stability of immobilized thermolysin in organic solvents

Exploiting the pressure effect on lipase-catalyzed wax ester synthesis in dense carbon dioxide

The present work focuses on the thermodynamic interpretation of the lauryl oleate biosynthesis in high-pressure carbon dioxide. Lipase-catalyzed lauryl oleate production by oleic acid esterification with 1-dodecanol over immobilized lipase from Rhizomucor miehei (Lipozyme RM IM) was successfully performed in a sapphire window batch stirred tank reactor (BSTR) using dense CO(2) as reaction medium. The experiments were planned to elucidate the pressure effect on the reaction performance. With increasing the pressure up to 10 MPa, the catalytic efficiency of the studied enzyme improved rising up to a maximum and decreased at higher pressure values. Kinetic observations, exhibiting that dense CO(2) expanded reaction mixture in subcritical conditions led to higher performance than when diluted in a single supercritical phase, were elucidated by phase-equilibrium arguments. The experimental results were justified with emphasis on thermodynamic interpretation of the studied system. Particularly, the different reaction performances obtained were related to the position of the operating point with respect to the location of liquid-vapor phase boundaries of the reactant fatty acid/alcohol/CO(2) ternary system. The outlook for exploitation of CO(2) expanded phase at lower pressure compared to supercritical phase, with heterogeneous system in which the solid catalyst particles are exposed to dense CO(2) expanded reaction mixture, in developing new biotransformation schemes is promising.

Synthesis of esters by immobilized-lipase-catalyzed condensation reaction of sugars and fatty acids in water-miscible organic solvent

A lipase-catalyzed condensation reaction in an organic solvent is a promising means of synthesizing esters. Reaction equilibrium constant, which is usually defined on the basis of reactant concentration, is an important parameter for estimating equilibrium yield. It is shown that the constant is markedly, affected by some factors, such as the hydration of a sugar substrate and the interaction of a reactant with a solvent. To reasonably design the reaction system or determine the reaction conditions, attention should be paid to these factors. From the viewpoint of kinetics, substrate selectivity for carboxylic acids also numerically correlates to the electrical and steric properties of these acids. Reactor systems for continuously producing esters through an immobilized-lipase-catalyzed condensation reaction are developed.

Enzyme stabilization by covalent binding in nanoporous sol-gel glass for nonaqueous biocatalysis

A unique nanoporous sol-gel glass possessing a highly ordered porous structure (with a pore size of 153 A in diameter) was examined for use as a support material for enzyme immobilization. A model enzyme, alpha-chymotrypsin, was efficiently bound onto the glass via a bifunctional ligand, trimethoxysilylpropanal, with an active enzyme loading of 0.54 wt%. The glass-bound chymotrypsin exhibited greatly enhanced stability both in aqueous solution and organic solvents. The half-life of the glass-bound alpha-chymotrypsin was >1000-fold higher than that of the native enzyme, as measured either in aqueous buffer or anhydrous methanol. The enhanced stability in methanol, which excludes the possibility of enzyme autolysis, particularly reflected that the covalent binding provides effective protection against enzyme inactivation caused by structural denaturation. In addition, the activity of the immobilized alpha-chymotrypsin was also much higher than that of the native enzyme in various organic solvents. From these results, it appears that the glass-enzyme complex developed in the present work can be used as a high-performance biocatalyst for various chemical processing applications, particularly in organic media. Published by John Wiley & Sons

Kinetic analysis for synthesis of a dipeptide precursor using an immobilized enzyme in water-immiscible organic solvents

N-(Benzyloxycarbonyl)-L-aspartyl-L-phenylalanine methyl ester (Z-AspPheOMe), a precursor of the synthetic sweetener aspartame, was synthesized, using thermolysin immobilized onto Amberlite XAD-7, both in ethyl acetate and in tert-amyl alcohol. The initial rates for synthesis of Z-AspPheOMe in the organic solvents were predicted on the basis of a model proposed for an aqueous/organic biphasic reaction and compared with the experimentally observed substrate concentration dependencies. The experimental synthetic rates using the enzyme immobilized at a high enzyme concentration were lower than the calculated ones over a wide range of the substrate concentration. It was suggested as a reason for this discrepancy that the enzyme molecules form compact aggregates and those existing inside the aggregates cannot be utilized for reaction. The experimental results with the enzyme immobilized at a low concentration in ethyl acetate coincided well with the calculated ones. On the other hand, when tert-amyl alcohol was used, the experimental results were different in tendency irrespective of the amount of enzyme loaded, probably due to the fact that a distinct water phase does not exist around the enzyme aggregates inside the support.

Kinetics and equilibrium for thermolysin-catalyzed syntheses of dipeptide precursors in aqueous/organic biphasic systems

The initial kinetics for the syntheses of N-(benzyloxycarbonyl)-L-alanyl-L-phenylalanine methyl ester (ZAPM) and N-(benzyloxycarbonyl)-L-aspartyl-L-phenylalanine methyl ester (ZDPM) in an aqueous/organic biphasic system, using free thermolysin were elucidated, both experimentally and theoretically. As model organic solvents, ethyl acetate and tert-amyl alcohol were used. The substrate concentration dependencies of the initial rate of syntheses for ZAPM and ZDPM observed in the biphasic system were well simulated using the overall partition coefficients of the substrates and product taking into consideration the effect of the formation of ion-pair complexes between the acid and amine components of the substrate, the initial rate equations determined in an aqueous buffer saturated with the organic solvent, and the pH dependence of the rate constant. The equilibrium yield for the synthesis of ZDPM was also in good agreement with the calculated result using the overall partition coefficients and equilibrium constant measured in the aqueous buffer.

Analysis for partition equilibrium of amino acid derivatives in aqueous/organic biphasic systems

The overall partition coefficients of the acid and amine components of amino acid derivatives, the substrates for proteinase-catalyzed synthesis of oligopeptide precursors, in an aqueous/organic biphasic system were studied both experimentally and theoretically. In a single-component system containing either an acid or amine component, the overall partition coefficient was well expressed by a model using the acid dissociation constant and partition coefficients for the non-ionized and ionized forms of the component. The overall partition coefficient in a binary-component system containing both acid and amine components was well simulated by the model when the formation of ion-pair complexes in the organic solvent phase was taken into consideration in addition to the partitioning of the non-ionized and ionized forms of the components. The formation of ion-pair complexes in the organic solvent phase was indicated by an analysis using Fourier transform infrared ray spectroscopy (FT-IR). In addition to the partition equilibrium, the aqueous-phase pH change after partitioning could be predicted by the model.