Chinese Journal of Catalysis ›› 2014, Vol. 35 ›› Issue (9): 1555-1564.DOI: 10.1016/S1872-2067(14)60111-X

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Covalent immobilization of Candida antarctica lipase B on nanopolystyrene and its application to microwave-assisted esterification

Attaullah Bukhari, Ani Idris, Madiha Atta, Teo Chee Loong   

  1. Department of Bioprocess Engineering, Faculty of Chemical Engineering, c/o Institute of Bioproduct Development, University Teknology Malaysia, 81310 UTM Skudai, Johor, Malaysia
  • Received:2014-02-21 Revised:2014-04-14 Online:2014-08-19 Published:2014-08-22

Abstract:

Nanopolystyrene was used as a solid support for the covalent immobilization of Candida antarctica lipase B (CalB) using the photoreactive reagent 1-fluoro-2-nitro-4-azido benzene (FNAB) as a coupling reagent. The obtained derivative was then used as a biocatalyst in a microwave assisted esterification experiment. Factors such as contact time, pH, and enzyme concentration were investigated during immobilization. The hydrolytic activity, thermal, and operational stability of immobilized-CalB were determined. The maximum immobilized yield (218 μg/mg support) obtained at pH 6.8 exhibited optimum hydrolytic activity (4.42 × 103 mU p-nitrophenol/min). The thermal stability of CalB improved significantly when it was immobilized at pH 10, however, the immobilized yield was very low (93.6 μg/mg support). The immobilized-CalB prepared at pH 6.8 and pH 10 retained 50% of its initial activity after incubation periods of 14 and 16 h, respectively, at 60 ℃. The operational stability was investigated for the microwave assisted esterification of oleic acid with methanol. Immobilized-CalB retained 50% of its initial activity after 15 batch cycles in the microwave-assisted esterification. The esterification time was notably reduced under microwave irradiation. The combined use of a biocatalyst and microwave heating is thus an alternative total green synthesis process.

Key words: Candida antarctica lipase B, 1-Fluoro-2-nitro-4-azido benzene, Covalent immobilization, Nanopolystyrene, Hydrolytic activity, Microwave assisted esterification