Lipase-catalyzed cellulose acetylation in aqueous and organic media

Screening for lipases capable of catalyzing acetylation of cellulosic substrates was conducted in aqueous buffer solution using water-soluble carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) as substrate. Lipase A12 from Aspergillus niger (A. niger) showed the most promising acetylation activity among 11 tested commercial microbial lipases and was further applied to catalyzing acetylation of solid cellulose in aqueous solution. This reaction was shown to be feasible with an acetylation extent of 0.16 wt % achieved compared with no detectable acetylation in the absence of enzyme. Pretreatments on cellulose substrate by ultrasonic irradiation and surfactant solution only slightly improved the acetylation extent by 44 and 27%, respectively. Alternatively, this lipase-catalyzed acetylation was remarkably improved with solubilized cellulose as substrate in the dimethyl sulfoxide/paraformaldehyde solvent system, with an acetylation extent (7.87 wt %) nearly 50 times higher than that achieved in aqueous solution. This improvement was attributed to (1) the absence of bulk water and the increase in substrate solubility by the transition of reaction media from aqueous solution to organic solvents and (2) the ability of lipase A12 to remain catalytically active in highly polar DMSO. This discovery that the A. niger lipase was capable of surviving its contact with polar solvents was further confirmed by its considerably preserved catalytic activity on CMC acetylation in aqueous media after enzyme pretreatments with organic solvents of various polarities and in mixture media with the aqueous phase partially replaced by organic solvents.