Activation of manganese peroxidase in an organic medium using a mediator

Abstract

We found that both unsaturated fatty acids (UFAs) and 1-hydroxybenzotriazole (HBT) enhance the enzymatic activity of manganese peroxidase in an organic medium. The effects of hydrophobic unsaturated fatty acids directly dissolved in an organic medium and hydrophilic HBT encapsulated in reverse micelles on the oxidation activity of a surfactant–manganese peroxidase (MnP) complex were investigated. The addition of UFAs or HBT (mediator) using reverse micelles improved the oxidation of 2,4-dichlorophenol in toluene up to 3-fold the oxidation without each mediator. This study presents, for the first time, the possibility of MnP-catalyzed oxidation coupled with mediators in organic media. The capability of the latter system using HBT was further assessed by the oxidative conversion of environmental pollutants, i.e. 2,4-dichlorophenol, 2,4,5-trichlorophenol, 2,4,6-trichlorophenol, and bisphenol A (100, 84, 91, and 100% conversions at 12 h of reaction, respectively).