Esterase system alcohols

In AChE-based biosensors acetylthiocholine is commonly used as a substrate. The thiocholine produced during the catalytic reaction can be monitored using spectromet-ric, amperometric [44] (Fig. 2.2) or potentiometric methods. The enzyme activity is indirectly proportional to the pesticide concentration. La Rosa et al. [45] used 4-ami-nophenyl acetate as the enzyme substrate for a cholinesterase sensor for pesticide determination. This system allowed the determination of esterase activities via oxidation of the enzymatic product 4-aminophenol rather than the typical thiocholine. Sulfonylureas are reversible inhibitors of acetolactate synthase (ALS). By taking advantage of this inhibition mechanism ALS has been entrapped in photo cured polymer of polyvinyl alcohol bearing styrylpyridinium groups (PVA-SbQ) to prepare an amperometric biosensor for... 

Enzymes are natural biocatalysts that are becoming increasingly popular tools in synthetic organic chemistry [1]. The major areas of exploration have involved the use of hydrolases, particularly esterases and lipases [2]. These enzymes are readily available, robust and inexpensive. The second most popular area of investigation has been the reduction of carbonyl compounds to chiral secondary alcohols using either dehydrogenases (with co-factors) or a whole-cell system such as bakers yeast [3]. 

In what appears to be a particularly irmovative development in the area of UV/ Vis-based ee screening systems, the determination of the enantiomeric purity of chiral alcohols 9 is based on a new concept of using two enantioselective enzymes to modify the product (84). The method allows the determination of ee values independent of the concentration, which may be of significant advantage in directed evolution projects. It can be used in three different biocatalytic processes, namely biohydroxylation of alkanes, reductase-catalyzed reduction of ketones, and lipase-or esterase-catalyzed ester hydrolysis. 

One of the first fluorescence-based ee assays uses umbelliferone (14) as the built-in fluorophore and works for several different types of enzymatic reactions 70,86). In an initial investigation, the system was used to monitor the hydrolytic kinetic resolution of chiral acetates (e.g., rac-11) (Fig. 8). It is based on a sequence of two coupled enzymatic steps that converts a pair of enantiomeric alcohols formed by the asymmetric hydrolysis under study (e.g., R - and (5)-12) into a fluorescent product (e.g., 14). In the first step, (R)- and (5)-ll are subjected separately to hydrolysis in reactions catalyzed by a mutant enzyme (lipase or esterase). The goal of the assay is to measure the enantioselectivity of this kinetic resolution. The relative amount of R)- and ( S)-12 produced after a given reaction time is a measure of the enantioselectivity and can be ascertained rapidly, but not directly. 

The specificity of blends of compounds used for pheromone communication by Lepidoptera species is the result of essentially two distinct sets of biosynthetic enzymes which regulate the production of specific olefinic bonds and synthesis of the oxygenated functional moiety, respectively. In Heliothis moths the regulatory systems that are responsible for production of the functional group during the final stages of pheromone biosynthesis consist of cellular acetate esterases and extracellular alcohol oxidases. Evidence indicates that the relative activities of these enzymes differ for each species of Heliothis. Thus, pheromone mediated reproductive isolation between closely related species of Heliothis is probably the result, in large measure, of the fact that some species require only aldehydes for communication while others use acetates, alcohols and aldehydes. 

In such coupled systems, care must be taken in choosing reaction conditions, such that the enzyme of interest is catalyzing the rate-determining step. Special synthetic colorless substrates converted to colored products have been developed for hydrolases (esterases, phosphatases, glycosidases and proteases) 4-nitrophenol or 4-ni-troanilide are used as the alcohol or amide component, which can be measured readily around 400-420 nm. 

In industrial biotransformations, hydrolytic reactions occupy a prominent position for the production of optically active amines, alcohols, and carboxylic acids. Compared with other reactions, hydrolytic reactions are feasible to scale up because they are cofactor-free, relatively simple, and chemically tunable systems. In addition to home-made whole-cell biocatalysts, which are considered to be more cost-effective for specific syntheses, some commercially available hydrolases, including lipases/esterases, epoxide hydrolases, nitrilases, and glycosidases, are also employed for the enantioselective production of chiral chemicals. 

Esterases of LAB can also catalyze the direct synthesis of esters from glycerides and alcohols via a transferase reaction (alcoholysis) in aqueous systems, that is the transfer of fatty acyl groups from glycerides to alcohols. This topic requires further research (Holland et al. 2005), as well as the pathways of formation of other lipid-derived aroma compounds in LAB. 

Asymmetric hydrolysis of acetate ( )-46 with a spiroacetal ring system was achieved with pig liver esterase (PLE) to give alcohol (4S,6S)-47 and the xmreacted acetate 4R,6R)-46 (Figure 24.24) [28]. The alcohol (4S,6S)-47 is a component of the sex pheromone of the olive fruit fly. 

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