Development of a silica monolith microbioreactor entrapping highly activated lipase and an experiment toward integration with chromatographic separation of chiral esters

J Sep Sci. 2007 Nov;30(17):3077-84. doi: 10.1002/jssc.200700309.

Abstract

Microbioreactors are effective for high-throughput production of expensive products from small amounts of substrates. Lipases are versatile enzymes for chiral syntheses, and are highly activated when immobilized in alkyl-substituted silicates by the sol-gel method. For practical application of sol-gel immobilized lipases to a flow system, a microbioreactor loaded with a macroporous silica monolith is well suited, because it can be easily integrated with a chromatographic separator for optical resolution. We attempted to develop a microbioreactor containing a silica monolith-immobilized lipase. A nonshrinkable silica monolith was first formed from a 4:1 mixture of methyltrimethoxysilane (MTMS) and tetramethoxysilane (TMOS). It was then coated with silica precipitates entrapping lipase, derived from a 4:1 mixture of n-butyltrimethoxysilane (BTMS) and TMOS. As a result, monolith treated with the BTMS-based silicate entrapping lipase exhibited approximately ten times higher activity than nontreated monolith-immobilized lipase derived from the MTMS-based silicate, in transesterification between glycidol and vinyl n-butyrate in isooctane. A commercially available chiral column was connected in series to the monolith microbioreactor, and a pulse of substrate solution was supplied at the inlet of the reactor. Successful resolution of the racemic ester produced was achieved in the chromatographic column.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Bioreactors*
  • Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid / instrumentation
  • Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid / methods
  • Enzymes, Immobilized / chemistry*
  • Esters / analysis*
  • Gels / chemistry
  • Lipase / chemistry*
  • Molecular Structure
  • Optics and Photonics
  • Particle Size
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Sensitivity and Specificity
  • Silicon Dioxide / chemistry*
  • Stereoisomerism
  • Surface Properties
  • Time Factors

Substances

  • Enzymes, Immobilized
  • Esters
  • Gels
  • Silicon Dioxide
  • Lipase