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Improving efficiency and reducing enzyme inactivation during lipase-mediated epoxidation of α-pinene in a double-phase reaction system

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Abstract

Chemoenzymatic epoxidation of olefin mediated by lipase is a green and environmentally friendly alternative process. However, the mass transfer barrier and lipase deactivation caused by the traditional organic–water biphasic reaction system have always been the focus of researchers’ attention. To overcome these issues, we investigated the effects of reaction temperature and two important substrates (H2O2 and acyl donor) on the epoxidation reaction and interfacial mass transfer. As a result, we determined the optimal reaction conditions: a temperature of 30 °C, 30 wt-% H2O2 as the oxygen source, and 1 M lauric acid as the oxygen carrier. Additionally, by simulating the conditions of shaking flask reactions, we designed a batch reactor and added a metal mesh to effectively block the direct contact between high-concentration hydrogen peroxide and the enzyme. Under these optimal conditions, the epoxidation reaction was carried out for 5 h, and the product yield reached a maximum of 93.2%. Furthermore, after seven repetitive experiments, the lipase still maintained a relative activity of 51.2%.

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All data generated or analysed during this study are included in this published article [and its supplementary information files].

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Acknowledgements

This study was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [No. 21966007] and the Natural Science Foundation of Guangxi Province [No. 2018GXNSFAA281278].

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Author notes

  1. Lishuang Yu and Cheng Zou contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Guangxi University, Nanning, 530004, China

    Lishuang Yu, Cheng Zou, Qingyun Li, Youyan Liu & Aixing Tang

  2. Key Laboratory of Guangxi Biorefinery, Guangxi University, Nanning, 530004, China

    Qingyun Li, Youyan Liu & Aixing Tang

  3. School of Economics and Management, Guangxi Agricultural Vocational University, Nanning, 530007, China

    Zhaoming Liu

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  1. Lishuang Yu
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  2. Cheng Zou
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Contributions

Lishaung Yu: conceptualization, validation, formal analysis, investigation, data curation, writing—original draft. Cheng Zou: validation, investigation, resources, data curation. Qingyun Li: resources, writing—review and editing. Zhaoming Liu: formal analysis. Youyan Liu: resources, writing—review and editing, supervision. Aixing Tang: conceptualization, resources, writing—review and editing, supervision, project administration, funding acquisition.

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Correspondence to Aixing Tang.

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Yu, L., Zou, C., Li, Q. et al. Improving efficiency and reducing enzyme inactivation during lipase-mediated epoxidation of α-pinene in a double-phase reaction system. Bioprocess Biosyst Eng 46, 1331–1340 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00449-023-02902-4

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