Biocatalysis in Organic Media

Abstract The potentials of using organic reaction media in biotechnological conversions have already been demonstrated in several experimental studies. Examples of possible advantages are: possibility of higher substrate and/or product concentrations, favorable shift of reaction equilibria, reduced substrate and/or product inhibition, and facilitated product recovery. Especially water/organic solvent two-phase systems seem to possess several of these advantages. The solvent type will highly affect kinetics and stability of the (immobilized) biocatalyst, solubility and partitioning of reactants/products, and product recovery. Therefore the solvent choice can have a large influence on the economics of the two-liquid-phase biocatalytic process. Immobilization of the biocatalyst may be useful to provide protection against denaturating solvent effects. The polarity of the employed support material will also be decisive for the partitioning of substrates and products among the various phases. A classification of biphasic systems, which is based on the possible types of theoretical concentration profiles and aqueous phase configurations, is discussed. Reversed micelles and aqueous two-liquid-phase systems can be considered as special cases. The design of two-liquid-phase bioreactors is dependent on the state of the biocatalyst, free or immobilized, and on the necessity for emulsification of one of the two liquid phases in the other. Many mass-transfer resistances, e.g. across the liquid/liquid interface, in the aqueous phase, across the liquid/solid interface, and in the biocatalyst phase, can limit the overall reaction rate. The epoxidation of alkenes in water/solvent two-phase systems is discussed to give an example of the scope of biotechnological processes that is obtained by using organic media. Finally, a design calculation of a packed-bed organic-liquid-phasel immobilized-biocatalyst reactor for the epoxidation of propene is given to illustrate some of the above aspects.

[1]  V. Kasche.  Correlation of experimental and theoretical data for artificial and natural systems with immobilized biocatalysts , 1983 .

[2]  H. Schutt,et al.  Preparation of optically active D‐arylglycines for use as side chains for semisynthetic penicillins and cephalosporins using immobilized subtilisins in two‐phase systems , 1985, Biotechnology and bioengineering.

[3]  M. Lilly,et al.  Two-liquid phase biocatalysis: epoxidation of 1,7-octadiene by Pseudomonas putida , 1986 .

[4]  J. Tramper,et al.  Modelling the effects of mass transfer on kinetics of propene epoxidation of immobilized Mycobacterium cells: 2. Product inhibition , 1986 .

[5]  P. Cheetham,et al.  The use of a hydrophobic resin as a product reservoir in steroid transformations , 1985, Biotechnology and bioengineering.

[6]  P. Halling.  Effects of water on equilibria catalysed by hydrolytic enzymes in biphasic reaction systems , 1984 .

[7]  A. Macrae.  Lipase-catalyzed interesterification of oils and fats , 1983 .

[8]  A. Freeman.  Solvent effects on multiphase biocatalysis , 1986 .

[9]  T. Yamane,et al.  Steroid bioconversion in water‐insoluble organic solvents: Δ1‐Dehydrogenation by free microbial cells and by cells entrapped in hydrophilic or lipophilic gels , 1979 .

[10]  A. Klibanov,et al.  A new approach to preparative enzymatic synthesis , 1977, Biotechnology and bioengineering.

[11]  J. Tramper,et al.  Stereospecific formation of 1,2-epoxypropane, 1,2-epoxybutane and 1-chloro-2,3-epoxypropane by alkene-utilizing bacteria , 1985 .

[12]  Channing R. Robertson,et al.  The immobilization of whole cells: Engineering principles , 1985 .

[13]  Larry G. Butler,et al.  Enzymes in non-aqueous solvents , 1979 .

[14]  J. Tramper.  Immobilizing biocatalysts for use in syntheses , 1985 .

[15]  Ramesh N. Patel,et al.  Epoxidation of Short-Chain Alkenes by Resting-Cell Suspensions of Propane-Grown Bacteria , 1983, Applied and environmental microbiology.

[16]  J. Tramper,et al.  Optimization of organic solvent in multiphase biocatalysis , 1985, Biotechnology and bioengineering.

[17]  J. Tramper,et al.  Production of propene oxide in an organic liquid-phase immobilized cell reactor , 1987 .

[18]  E. Antonini,et al.  Enzyme catalysed reactions in water - Organic solvent two-phase systems , 1981 .

[19]  Barry F. Smith,et al.  Toxicity of organic extraction reagents to anaerobic bacteria , 1983, Biotechnology and bioengineering.

[20]  L. B. Wingard,et al.  Epoxidation of propylene utilizing Nocardia corallina immobilized by gel entrapment or adsorption , 1985 .

[21]  J. Radovich.  Mass transfer effects in fermentations using immobilized whole cells , 1985 .

[22]  E. Antonini,et al.  The oxidation of steroid hormones by fungal laccase in emulsion of water and organic solvents. , 1973, Archives of biochemistry and biophysics.

[23]  C. Laane,et al.  Rules for optimization of biocatalysis in organic solvents , 1987, Biotechnology and bioengineering.

[24]  M. Morbidelli,et al.  Synthesis of propylene oxide from propylene chlorohydrins—I: Kinetic aspects of the process , 1979 .

[25]  A. Klibanov,et al.  Enzymatic catalysis in organic media at 100 degrees C. , 1984, Science.

[26]  R. Schwartz,et al.  Epoxidation of 1,7-octadiene by Pseudomonas oleovorans: fermentation in the presence of cyclohexane , 1977, Applied and environmental microbiology.

[27]  Bernard Cambou,et al.  Preparative production of optically active esters and alcohols using esterase-catalyzed stereospecific transesterification in organic media , 1984 .

[28]  G. Carrea.  Biocatalysis in water-organic solvent two-phase systems , 1984 .

[29]  C. Shaw,et al.  Hydrolysis of triglyceride by solid phase lipolytic enzymes of Rhizopus arrhizus in continuous reactor systems , 1981 .

[30]  K. Luyben,et al.  Ethylene oxide production by immobilized Mycobacterium Py1 in a gas-solid bioreactor , 1983 .

[31]  P. Luisi,et al.  Solubilization of enzymes in apolar solvents via reverse micelles , 1986 .

[32]  M. Lilly,et al.  Stereospecific hydrolysis of d,l-menthyl acetate by Bacillus subtilis: mass transfer-reaction interactions in a liquid-liquid system , 1986 .

[33]  B. Mattiasson.  Applications of aqueous two-phase systems in biotechnology , 1983 .

[34]  K. Luyben,et al.  Automation of an experimental system for the microbial epoxidation of propene and 1-butene , 1984 .

[35]  E Antonini,et al.  Enzymatic dehydrogenation of steroids by beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase in a two-phase system. , 1973, Archives of biochemistry and biophysics.

[36]  L. B. Wingard,et al.  Formation of propylene oxide by Nocardia corallina immobilized in liquid paraffin , 1986, Biotechnology and bioengineering.

[37]  E Antonini,et al.  Enzymatic dehydrogenation of testosterone coupled to pyruvate reduction in a two-phase system. , 1974, European journal of biochemistry.

[38]  A. Tanaka,et al.  Bioconversions under Hydrophobic Conditions : Effect of Solvent Polarity on Steroid Transformations by Gel-entrapped Nocardia rhodocrous Cells , 1980 .

[39]  C. Laane,et al.  On optimizing organic solvents in multi-liquid-phase biocatalysis , 1985 .

[40]  J. Tramper,et al.  Modelling the effects of mass transfer on kinetics of propene epoxidation of immobilized Mycobacterium cells: 1. Pseudo-one-substrate conditions and negligible product inhibition , 1986 .

[41]  J.A.M. de Bont,et al.  A New Route for Ethylene Glycol Metabolism in Mycobacterium E44 , 1980 .

[42]  E. Antonini,et al.  Enzymatic preparation of 20β‐hydroxysteroids in a two‐phase system , 1975, Biotechnology and bioengineering.