Methods for the immobilization of lipases and their use for ester synthesis

The lipase from Pseudomonas fluorescens was immobilized onto five different carriers: celite, octyl-silica, aminopropyl-silica, gluterdialdehyde-activated silica and Eupergit C250L. Activities and operational stabilities of the prepared catalysts were compared using the enantioselective acylation of (R,S)-1-phenylethanol by vinyl acetate as acyl donor and t-butylmethyl ether with variable water content (0.038-0.97% v/v) as reaction medium. The above carriers provide catalysts with widely different specific activities ranging from excellent 25 mmol/h mg protein (celite) to 0.07 mmol/h mg protein (glutardialdehyde-activated silica) on the lower end. The lipase immobilized onto Eupergit C250L exhibited the best operational stability among the catalysts studied. It retained 30% of its initial activity after 11 cycles of application, each with a duration between 2 and 6 h.