Lipase-catalyzed Synthesis of Oleoyl-lysophosphatidylcholine by Direct Esterification in Solvent-free Medium without Water Removal

Enzymatic synthesis of mono- and disubstituted phospholipids by direct condensation of oleic acid and glycerophosphocholine with immobilized lipases and phospholipase

Lysophospholipids which contain polyunsaturated fatty acids play a key role in food and cosmetic industries because of their bioactivity. Therefore, the formation of mono- and disubstituted phospholipids is quite interesting as they could be used for the formation of different natural liposomes. Using immobilized derivatives of lipases and phospholipases, the esterification of oleic acid with glycerophosphocholine (GPC) has been studied. Thus, derivatives were quite active in completely anhydrous media and in solvent-free reaction systems where the reaction takes place. CALB biocatalyst was able to successfully form oleoyl-LPC at 60 °C in the presence of 30 % butanone, where the synthesis rate was 100 times higher than in the absence of solvents at 40 °C. On the other hand, the best synthesis rate for dioleoyl-PC was achieved with immobilized Lecitase in a solvent-free process at 60 °C, an 83 % synthesis yield was achieved with an initial synthesis rate of 4.32 mg/mL × h × g.

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.

Highly efficient preparation of 1-lysophosphatidylcholine via high proportion of Novozym® 435 (lipase B from Candida antarctica)-catalyzed ethanolysis

•

1-Lysophosphatidylcholine was prepared via Novozym® 435 (lipase B from Candida antarctica)-catalyzed ethanolysis.

•

Novozym® 435 showed sn-1 regiospecificity to phosphatidylcholine.

•

The water content of ethanol and high enzyme dose were key determinants of yields.

•

The yield of 1-LPC at optimal reaction conditions was 96.5 ± 0.2 mol%.

•

No acyl migration occurred during the reaction.

Efficient preparation methods for 1-lysophosphatidylcholine (1-LPC), a physiologically important compound, are lacking. Here, we established a method for 1-LPC preparation via Novozym® 435 (a lipase B from Candida antarctica)-catalyzed ethanolysis. Novozym® 435 showed sn-1 regiospecificity to phosphatidylcholine, although it does not exhibit regiospecificity to triacylglycerol. In particular, quantitative 1-LPC yields (96.5 ± 0.2 mol%) were reliably obtained in the presence of Novozym® 435 (100 wt% of PC), 97 % ethanol, in 72 h at 40 °C. During the reaction, acyl migration from 1-LPC to 2-LPC was rare. This novel synthetic method is expected to expand the practical applications of 1-LPC.