Esterification reactions catalyzed by Chromobacterium viscosum lipase in CTAB-based microemulsion systems

Chromobacterium viscosum (CV) lipase solubilized in water-in-oil (w/o) microemulsions based on the cationic surfactant hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) have been used for multigram-scale ester synthesis, including the kinetic resolution of a secondary alcohol. The stability of CV lipase in all the CTAB microemulsions studied was excellent and was superior to that observed in aqueous buffer at the same pH and temperature. Kinetic studies were performed using the synthesis of ethylhexadecanoate as a model reaction. Under pseudo-first-order conditions, the synthesis rates were linearlydependent on the enzyme and fatty acid concentrations and the R dependence shows the characteristic bell-shaped curve (where R = [H(2)O]/[surfactant]). The dependence of enzyme activity toward octyldecanoate synthesis on the pH of the dispersed buffer phase is in marked contrast to that observed for the pH dependence of CV lipase toward p-nitrophenylbutyrate hydrolysis. In the former case, the pH-activity profile is approximately sigmoidal, which may reflect the ionization state of the fatty acid substrate. In the latter case, the pH dependence is minimal at both R = 10 and R = 50, suggesting the enzyme does not experience a changed pH environment. Inclusion of a pH-sensitive probe molecule into those incubations containing fatty acid clearly demonstrates that the probe molecule experiences a changed environment consistent with that expected for the selected buffer. An in situ Fourier transform nuclear magnetic resonance (FT-NMR) assay has been developed which allows continuous monitoring of the esterification reactions, thereby providing an additional means of determining initial rates. The method may be of general value for lipase assays in microemulsions since it may provide, at the same time, information regarding enzyme regioselectivity. (c) 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.