Oxidação enzimática de soluções fenólicas com tirosinase imobilizada em quitosana

Abstract

MIYAGUTI, R. M. Enzimatic oxidation of phenolic solutions with immobilized tyrosinase on chitosan. 2011. 111 f. Dissertacao (Mestrado), Faculdade de Ciencias Farmaceuticas, Universidade de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, 2011. The phenolic compounds when in high concentrations in water are extremely dangerous pollutants and difficult to be eliminated even by conventional methods such as the microbiological bioremediation with activated sludge and physico-chemical methods. Phenols are present in many industrial effluents and is necessary to develop new and effective processes for the treatment of that effluents and, if possible, environmentally friendly. This research aimed the degradation of phenolic pollutants in aqueous solutions by enzymatic oxidation with tyrosinase immobilized in chitosan. Phenols such as 4-chlorophenol, 4cresol, 4-nitrophenol and phenol, had been used in assays of enzymatic oxidation in an agitated reactor, in dynamic regime, in a batch process, temperature of 45°C and three values of enzymatic concentration ( 40, 60 and 80 U/ml). In addition, three forms of chitosan had been used in enzymatic immobilization and applied in the processes of oxidation of phenol: pellets, flakes and small particles of chitosan. Tyrosinase was efficient in the degradation of phenol, 4-cresol and 4-chlorophenol, reducing significantly the concentration of these pollutants in aqueous solutions. However, tyrosinase did not oxidized 4-nitrophenol. It was verified that the effect of some substitutes and their position in the aromatic ring has a direct influence on the activity of the enzyme during the oxidative reactions involving phenolic compounds. Although this study has shown good results in the removal of some phenolic compounds in aqueous solutions through the oxidation of such pollutants by the tyrosinase immobilized on chitosan, the enzyme-support did not present the same efficiency in subsequent assays, in which we studied the reuse of the immobilized enzyme.