Enzyme Microheterogeneous Hydration and Stabilization in Supercritical Carbon Dioxide

A new recirculating enzymatic membrane reactor for ester synthesis in ionic liquid/supercritical carbon dioxide biphasic systems

Experimental and simulation analyses were performed on the lipase-catalyzed esterification reaction of racemic naproxen by CALB (candida antarctica lipase B) enzyme in supercritical carbon dioxide. The reaction pathways were investigated by quantum mechanical analysis, and the enantioselectivity of the products was predicted by molecular dynamics simulation analysis. Calculated results from molecular modeling in supercritical carbon dioxide were qualitatively compared with experimental data by using racemic naproxen as a substrate. All molecular modeling results and experimental data were acquired and compared with those in ambient and supercritical condition. Moreover, to verify the stability of enzymatic reaction in each solvent condition, reaction pathways were investigated in several solvent conditions (vacuum, water, hexane and supercritical carbon dioxide), and the stability of enzymatic reaction in supercritical carbon dioxide was compared with other solvent conditions.

Enzymatic transformations in ionic liquids (ILs)/supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2) biphasic systems, whereby enzyme molecules are ``immobilized" in the IL phase and substrates/products are transported by the scCO2 phase, are described as a way for carrying out clean synthetic chemical processes to produce pure products. As a model system to study, the ionic liquid butyltrimethyl ammonium (bis(trifluoromethane)sulfonyl imine) ([btma][NTf2]) was assayed for Candida antarctica lipase B (CALB)-catalyzed the kinetic resolution of rac-1-phenylethanol. The suitability of this IL was established from both the activity and stability of the enzyme. A continuous dynamic kinetic resolution (DKR) process in [btma][NTf2])/scCO2 biphasic system was carried out by using simultaneously both immobilized Candida antarctica lipase B in silica gel and silica modified with benzenosulfonic acid groups (SCX) catalysts at 50 ºC and 10 MPa, providing a good yield (78 %) for (R)-1-phenylethyl propionate product with excellent enantioselectivity (ee = 92 %) in continuous operation.

Candida antarctica Lipase B catalysis in organic, polymer and supramolecular chemistry

Effect of high pressure and magnetic field treatments on stability of Candida antarctica lipase B (CALB) and lysozyme from chicken egg

Preliminary Evaluation of Polymer-Based Drug Composite Microparticle Production by Coacervate Desolvation with Supercritical Carbon Dioxide

Protein instability in supercritical CO2 limits the application of this green solvent in enzyme-catalyzed reactions. CO2 molecules act as a protein denaturant at high pressure under supercritical conditions. Here, for the first time, we show that natural osmolytes could stabilize protein conformation in supercritical CO2. Molecular dynamics simulation is used to monitor the effects of adding different natural osmolytes on the conformation and dynamics of chymotrypsin inhibitor 2 (CI2) in supercritical CO2. Simulations showed that CI2 is denatured at 200 bar in supercritical CO2, which is in agreement with experimental observations. Interestingly, the protein conformation remains native after addition of ∼1 M amino acid- and sugar-based osmolyte models. These molecules stabilize protein through the formation of supramolecular self-assemblies resulting from macromolecule-osmolyte hydrogen bonds. Nevertheless, trimethylamine N-oxide, which is known as a potent osmolyte for protein stabilization in aqueous solutions, amplifies protein denaturation in supercritical CO2. On the basis of our structural analysis, we introduce a new mechanism for the osmolyte effect in supercritical CO2, an "inclusion mechanism". To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that introduces the application of natural osmolytes in a supercritical fluid and describes mechanistic insights into osmolyte action in nonaqueous media.

Membrane reactor with immobilized Candida antarctica lipase B for ester synthesis in supercritical carbon dioxide

'This report summarizes the results of work done during the first 1.3 years of a three year project. During the first nine months effort focussed on the design, construction and testing of a closed recirculating system that can be used to study photochemistry in supercritical carbon dioxide at pressures up to 5,000 psi and temperatures up to about 50 C. This was followed by a period of work in which the photocatalytic oxidation of benzene and acetone in supercritical, liquid, and gaseous carbon dioxide containing dissolved oxygen was demonstrated. The photocatalyst was titanium dioxide supported on glass spheres. This was the first time it was possible to observe photocatalytic oxidation in a supercritical fluid and to compare reaction in the three fluid phases of a solvent. This also demonstrated that it is possible to purify supercritical and liquid carbon dioxide using photochemical oxidation with no chemical additions other than oxygen. The oxidation of benzene produced no intermediates detectable using on line spectroscopic analysis or by gas chromatographic analysis of samples taken from the flow system. The catalyst surface did darken as the reaction proceeded indicating that oxidation products were accumulating on the surface. This is analogous to the behavior of aromatic compounds in air phase photocatalytic oxidation. The reaction of acetone under similar conditions resulted in the formation of low levels of by-products. Two were identified as products of the reaction of acetone with itself (4-methyl-3-penten-2-one and 4-hydroxy-4-methyl-2-pentanone) using gas chromatography with a mass spectrometer detector. Two other by-products also appear to be from the self-reaction of acetone. By-products of this type had not been observed in prior studies of the gas-phase photocatalytic oxidation of acetone. The by-products that have been observed can also be oxidized under the treatment conditions. The above results establish that photocatalytic oxidation of organic compounds in supercritical carbon dioxide can be achieved. Until recently it was not possible for us to obtain high quality, quantitative kinetic data. The original flow cell used to obtain UV-Visible spectra on the recirculating fluid did not provide quantitative concentration data because the sapphire windows did not have adequate transmission characteristics below about 240 nm. A pair of windows with better transmission properties arrived as this report was being prepared. While waiting for the replacement windows for the flow cell, the concentration of reactants was monitored by withdrawing samples of the fluid stream for gas chromatographic analysis. This allowed progress to be made in determining some of the factors that affected the rates of reaction in a qualitative sense but the results had large error bars due to the difficulty in obtaining reproducible samples from the pressurized system using gas tight syringes. This problem was recently solved by incorporating a gas chromatograph with automatic sampling valves into the flow system. The two on line analytical methods will now result in reliable analytical data that can be used to follow the reaction kinetics and detect and identify reaction intermediates and by-products, if any are formed.'

NVT ensemble molecular dynamics (MD) simulation has been applied to calculate the self-diffusion coefficients of carbon dioxide and the tracer diffusion coefficients of naphthalene in supercritical carbon dioxide. The simulation was carried out in the pressure range from 8 to 40 MPa. The elementary physical model proposed by Harris and Yung was adopted for carbon dioxide and some approximation models were used for naphthalene. The systems of MD simulation for carbon dioxide consist of 256 particles. One naphthalene molecule was added for carbon dioxide+naphthalene system. The system can be assumed to be an infinite dilution condition for carbon dioxide+naphthalene system and the mutual diffusion coefficients are equal to the tracer diffusion coefficients of naphthalene. The self-diffusion coefficients of carbon dioxide and the tracer diffusion coefficients of naphthalene in supercritical carbon dioxide can be calculated by mean square displacement. The calculated results of diffusion coefficients showed good agreement with the experimental data without adjustable parameters.

Lipases (E.C. 3.1.1.3) have proved to be efficient catalysts for the preparation of enantiomerically enriched compounds. Among them, Candida antarctica lipase B (CALB) has been found to be a particularly useful biocatalyst for the asymmetric transformation of sec-alcohols and related compounds. Indeed, about 200 compounds have already been successfully resolved using this enzyme. This number includes some chiral acids, but other lipases have proved to be superior to CALB for the resolution of most chiral acids. This chapter will, therefore, focus on the resolution of chiral alcohols. CALB is supplied as a recombinant protein patented by Novo-Nordisk. Despite its origin in the Antarctics, CALB is stable at 60-80°C for extended periods of time, once it is immobilized (1). Furthermore, CALB retains most of its activity and robustness in nonaqueous media. An example is that Glaxo selected CALB out of two lipases suitable for a multikilo resolution, because of its stability over multiple-use cycles in nonaqueous media (2).

The influence of eight different ionic liquid (IL) solvents on the stability of the lipase Candida antarctica lipase B (CAL-B) is investigated with molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Considered ILs contain cations that are based either on imidazolium or guanidinium as well as nitrate, tetrafluoroborate or hexafluorophosphate anions. Partial unfolding of CAL-B is observed during high-temperature MD simulations and related changes of CAL-B regarding its radius of gyration, surface area, secondary structure, amount of solvent close to the backbone and interaction strength with the ILs are evaluated. CAL-B stability is influenced primarily by anions in the order NO(3)(-)≪ BF(4)(-) < PF(6)(-) of increasing stability, which agrees with experiments. Cations influence protein stability less than anions but still substantially. Long decyl side chains, polar methoxy groups and guanidinium-based cations destabilize CAL-B more than short methyl groups, other non-polar groups and imidazolium-based cations, respectively. Two distinct causes for CAL-B destabilization are identified: a destabilization of the protein surface is facilitated mostly by strong Coulomb interactions of CAL-B with anions that exhibit a localized charge and strong polarization as well as with polar cation groups. Surface instability is characterized by an unraveling of α-helices and an increase of surface area, radius of gyration and protein-IL total interaction strength of CAL-B, all of which describe a destabilization of the folded protein state. On the other hand, a destabilization of the protein core is facilitated when direct core-IL interactions are feasible. This is the case when long alkyl chains are involved or when particularly hydrophobic ILs induce major conformational changes that enable ILs direct access to the protein core. This core instability is characterized by a disintegration of β-sheets, diffusion of ions into CAL-B and increasing protein-IL van der Waals interactions. This process describes a stabilization of the unfolded protein state. Both of these processes reduce the folding free energy and thus destabilize CAL-B. The results of this work clarify the impact of ions on CAL-B stabilization. An extrapolation of the observed trends enables proposing novel ILs in which protein stability could be enhanced further.

A lipase-catalyzed esterification reaction of (S)-naproxen ethyl ester by CALB (Candida antarctica lipase B) enzyme was performed in supercritical carbon dioxide. Experiments were performed in a high-pressure cell for 10 h at a stirring rate of 150 rpm over a temperature range of 313.15 to 333.15 K and a pressure range of 50 to 175 bar. The productivity of (S)-naproxen ethyl ester was compared with the result in ambient condition. The total reaction time and conversion yields of the catalyzed reaction in supercritical carbon dioxide were compared with those at ambient temperature and pressure. The experimental results show that the conversion and reaction rate were significantly improved at critical condition. The maximum conversion yield was 9.9% (216 h) at ambient condition and 68.9% (3 h) in supercritical state. The effects of varying amounts of enzyme and water were also examined and the optimum condition was found (7 g of enzyme and 2% water content).

Integration and conversion of supercritical carbon dioxide coal-fired power cycle and high-efficiency energy storage cycle: Feasibility analysis based on a three-step strategy

Candida Antarctica Lipase B (CALB) is extensively studied in enzymatic production of biodiesel, pharmaceutical products, detergents and other chemi cals. One drawback of using CALB is its relatively low optimum temperature at 313 K (40°C). The objective of this research is to design CALB mutant with improved thermostability by introducing extra disul fide bond. Molecular dynamic simulation was conducted to get better insight into the process of thermal denaturation or unfolding in CALB. Thermal denaturation of CALB was accelerated by conducting simulation at high temperature. Molecular dynamic simulation of CALB was performed with GROMACS software package at 300-700 K. Prediction of possible mutation was done using “Disulfide by Desi gn TM ” software. Selection of mutated residues was based on flexibility analysis of CALB. From those a nalyses, three mutants were designed, which are Mutant-1 (73LeuCys/151AlaCys), Mutant-2 (155TrpCys/294GluCys) and Mutant-3 (43ThrCys/67SerCys). Parameters that were used to compare the thermostability of mutant with wild type enzyme were Root Mean Square Deviations (RMSD), Solvent Accessible Surface Area (SASA), Radius of gyration (Rg) and secondary structure. Molecular dynamic simulation conducted on those three mutants showed that Mutant-1 has better thermostability compared to wild type CA LB. We proposed the order of mutant thermostability improvement as follows: Mutant-1, Mutant-2 and Mutant-3, with Mutant-1 having better potential thermostability improvement and Mutant-3, the least stable.