Lipase-catalyzed esterification reaction

One of the most important characteristics of IL is its wide temperature range for the liquid phase with no vapor pressure, so next we tested the lipase-catalyzed reaction under reduced pressure. It is known that usual methyl esters are not suitable for lipase-catalyzed transesterification as acyl donors because reverse reaction with produced methanol takes place. However, we can avoid such difficulty when the reaction is carried out under reduced pressure even if methyl esters are used as the acyl donor, because the produced methanol is removed immediately from the reaction mixture and thus the reaction equilibrium goes through to produce the desired product. To realize this idea, proper choice of the acyl donor ester was very important. The desired reaction was accomplished using methyl phenylth-ioacetate as acyl donor. Various methyl esters can also be used as acyl donor for these reactions methyl nonanoate was also recommended and efficient optical resolution was accomplished. Using our system, we demonstrated the completely recyclable use of lipase. The transesterification took place smoothly under reduced pressure at 10 Torr at 40°C when 0.5 equivalent of methyl phenylthioacetate was used as acyl donor, and we were able to obtain this compound in optically pure form. Five repetitions of this process showed no drop in the reaction rate (Fig. 4). Recently Kato reported nice additional examples of lipase-catalyzed reaction based on the same idea that CAL-B-catalyzed esterification or amidation of carboxylic acid was accomplished under reduced pressure conditions. ... 

Lipase-catalyzed reaction is useful for polyester synthesis and IE was employed successfully as solvent. Uyama and Kobayashi demonstrated an efficient polyester synthesis lipase-catalyzed esterification of agipic acid with butan-1,4-diol proceeded smoothly in [bmim][BF4] solvent, particularly under reduced pressure conditions (Fig. 8). Further Russel " and Nara independently reported efficient examples of the lipase-catalyzed polyester synthesis in an IE solvent system. 

Several mechanisms have been proposed for lipase-catalyzed reactions. Kinetic studies of hydrolysis [14,15] and esterification [50] catalyzed by Pseudomonas cepecia lipase, demonstrate that the enzyme has a ping-pong mechanism. 

Lipases are able to catalyze many hydrolytic and esterification reactions in the presence of different substrates. The type of substrate is a key factor affecting the activity and productivity of lipase-catalyzed reactions. 

In a lipase-catalyzed reaction, the acyl group of the ester is transferred to the hydroxyl group of the serine residue to form the acylated enzyme. The acyl group is then transferred to an external nucleophile with the return of the enzyme to its preacylated state to restart the catalytic cycle. A variety of nucleophiles can participate in this process. For example, reaction in the presence of water results in hydrolysis, reaction in alcohol results in esterification or transesterification, and reaction in amine results in amination. Kirchner et al.3 reported that it was possible to use hydrolytic enzymes under conditions of limited moisture to catalyze the formation of esters, and this is now becoming very popular for the resolution of alcohols.4... 

When water molecules interact with an enzyme, it is natural that conformational changes can occur, which in turn can cause changes in the selectivity of the enzyme. Since enantioselectivity of enzymes is of major importance for many applications, it is a common task to investigate how to choose reaction conditions providing the maximal enantioselectivity. As might be expected, because water can interact with enzymes in many ways, it is difficult to generalize the effects. In some studies of lipase-catalyzed esterification reactions, no effects of water activity on enantioselectivity were observed [30]. In a similar study, no effects were observed in most cases, while the enantioselectivity of one lipase-catalyzed reaction decreased... 

Moreover, lipase-catalyzed reactions of linear and cyclic poly(3-hydroxy-butanoates) were subjected to hydrolysis, transesterification, and intramolecular esterification. A cyclic polymer along with linear polymers was pro-... 

Figure 2.10. Lipase-catalyzed reaction on a mixture of FAStE and water in the presence or in the absence of MeOH. A, Hydrolysis of FA steryl ester and esterification of sterol with FFA. B, Lipase-catalyzed reactions in a mixture of FAStE, water and MeOH.

Most of lipase-catalyzed acylations of sugars in organic solvents have been reported as transesterification rather than esterification reactions. The displacement of the equilibrium towards products has been accomplished by using activated acyl donors [58] such as 2,2,2-trichloroethyl esters and, more often, enol esters. The use of enol esters, such as a vinyl or an isopropenyl ester, was, in fact, first reported in lipase-catalyzed reactions with sugars [59]. In the reaction, an unstable enol is liberated which instantaneously tautomerizes to the corresponding aldehyde or ketone, making the reaction irreversible. 

Both enzymatic esterification and hydrolysis are useful tools for resolution of racemic fluorinated building blocks. Among them, lipase-catalyzed reaction is reliable and most... 

Water activity of the reaction medium plays a central role in lipase catalyzed reactions (Berglund 2001). Different authors have described and demonstrated the usefulness of controlling water activity on lipase performance. In esterification reactions on cyclohexane media, the reaction rate increased with water activity in the low activity range however, it reached a maximum at a value of 0.84 and a subsequent increase in water activity led to a decrease in the reaction rate (Mat-sumoto et al. 2001). Results on the effect of water activity on enantioselectivity of lipases are rather contradictory (Berglund 2001). However, very good papers have been published in tuning lipase enantioselectivity by reaction medium engineering (Wehtje and Adlercreutz 1997 Matsumoto et al. 2001 Bomscheuer 2002). 

Based on the substrates involved in the lipase-catalyzed reactions, they can be classified into different categories esterification, hydrolysis, acidolysis, alcoholysis and interesterification (1). Direct esterification reaction may be enqjloyed for the preparation of stmctured lipids by reacting free fatty acids with glycerol. However, this process is not commonly used in stmctured lipid production. The major problem is that the water molecules are formed as a result of the esterification reaction. The water molecules so produced need to be removed in order to prevent the hydrolysis of the product. Hydrolysis is the... 

R)-3-Phenoxybutanoic acid and the corresponding butyl (S)-ester were obtained by Burkholderia cepacia lipase-catalyzed enantioselective esterification of the racemic acid with 1-butanol in hexane containing anhydrous sodium sulfate to remove the water produced during the reaction (Figure 6.17) [64]. 

Orthoformates have been used in the lipase-catalyzed esterification aimed at the kinetic resolution of racemic acids such as flurbiprofen, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (Figure 6.18). Orthoformates trap the water as it is formed through hydrolysis, and therefore prevent the reverse reaction, and, at the same time, provide the alcohol for the esteriflcation [65]. 

Lipase is an enzyme which catalyzes the hydrolysis of fatty acid esters normally in an aqueous environment in living systems. However, hpases are sometimes stable in organic solvents and can be used as catalyst for esterifications and transesterifications. By utihzing such catalytic specificities of lipase, functional aliphatic polyesters have been synthesized by various polymerization modes. Typical reaction types of hpase-catalyzed polymerization leading to polyesters are summarized in Scheme 1. Lipase-catalyzed polymerizations also produced polycarbonates and polyphosphates. 

Scheme 8.15. Preparation of optically active polysubstituted decalines by a lipase-catalyzed domino esterification/Diels-Alder reaction.

It, thus, appears that the capacity to catalyze reactions of transesterification and esterification is a characteristic of various hydrolases (Chapt. 3). Apart from the carboxylesterases discussed here, lipoprotein lipase has the capacity to synthesize fatty acid ethyl esters from ethanol and triglycerides, or even fatty acids [127]. Ethanol, 2-chloroethanol, and other primary alcohols serve to esterify endogenous fatty acids and a number of xenobiotic acids [128-130]. In this context, it is interesting to note that the same human liver carboxylesterase was able to catalyze the hydrolysis of cocaine to benzoylecgonine, the transesterification of cocaine, and the ethyl esterification of fatty acids [131]. 

The third group of target molecules comprises chiral carboxylic acid and their derivatives esters, amides and nitriles. Enantiomerically pure esters are prepared in an analogous manner to the enantiomerically pure alcohols discussed earlier [i.e. by esterase- or lipase-catalyzed hydrolysis or (trans)esterification]. However, these reactions are not very interesting in the present context of cascade reactions. Amides can be produced by enantioselective ammoniolysis of esters or even the... 

The modified lipase catalyzed the esterification of oleic acid and glycerol without solvent. It showed higher activity than the unmodified lipase within the first SO hr of reaction (Figure 3b). While conversion reached 90% for all lipases, the initial rate of reaction using the modified lipase was about twice that of the unmodified lipase. 

Relatively few detailed studies of enzyme kinetics in organic media have been carried out. Preferably, full kinetics should be studied, allowing the determination of Km and kcat values, but it is much more common to see just reports on the catalytic activity at fixed substrate concentrations as a function of water activity. That such studies can be misleading was shown in an investigation of lipase-catalyzed esterification [26]. When the reaction rate in the esterification reaction was plotted versus the water activity at three different substrate concentrations, maxima were obtained at three different water activities (Figure 1.4). Such maxima should not be used to claim that the optimal water activity of the enzyme was found. Detailed kinetic studies showed that both the kcat and the Km values (for the alcohol substrate) varied with the water activity. The Km value of the alcohol increased with increasing water... 

When substrate activities are used instead of substrate concentrations in studies of enzyme kinetics in organic media, solvent effects due to substrate solvation disappear. Remaining solvent effects should be due to direct interactions between the enzyme and the solvent. In a study of lipase-catalyzed esterification reactions, it was found that Km values based on activities were indeed more similar tban those based on concentrations in different solvents, but still some differences remained [49]. 

It is clear that the water activity is of crucial importance for the equilibrium yield in a reversed hydrolysis reaction. As expected, the equilibrium yield increases with decreasing water activity. This has been shown, for example, for the condensation of glucose and octanol [62], esterification of lysophospholipids with fatty acids [29, 63], and in normal lipase-catalyzed esterification reactions [64, 65]. The same situation is observed in ionic liquids [66]. 

Other authors have described the lipase-catalyzed chemoselective acylation of alcohols in the presence of phenolic moities [14], the protease-catalyzed acylation of the 17-amino moiety of an estradiol derivative [15], the chemoselectivity in the aminolysis reaction of methyl acrylate (amide formation vs the favored Michael addition) catalyzed by Candida antarctica lipase (Novozym 435) [16], and the lipase preference for the O-esterification in the presence of thiol moieties, as, for instance, in 2-mercaptoethanol and dithiotreitol [17]. This last finding was recently exploited for the synthesis of thiol end-functionalized polyesters by enzymatic polymerization of e-caprolactone initiated by 2-mercaptoethanol (Figure 6.2)... 

It is known that enantioselectivity of enzymes depends on many different parameters such as temperature, substrate structure, reaction medium, and presence of water. Enantiopreference of enzymes can be greatly affected, even reversed, by changing the reaction solvent. Such an example was reported by Ueji et al. in 1992 for Candida cylindracea lipase-catalyzed esterification of ( )-2-phenoxy propionic acid with 1-butanol [29]. 

Resolution of racemic alcohols by acylation (Table 6) is as popular as that by hydrolysis. Because of the simplicity of reactions in nonaqueous media, acylation routes are often preferred. As in hydrolytic reactions, selectivity of esterification may depend on the structure of the acylating agent. Whereas Candida cylindracea lipase-catalyzed acylation of racemic-Ot-methylbenzyl alcohol [98-85-1] (59) with butyric acid has an enantiomeric value E of 20, acylation with dodecanoic acid increases the E value to 46 (16). Not only acids but also anhydrides are used as acylating agents. Pseudomonasjl. lipase (PFL), for example, catalyzed acylation of OC-phenethanol [98-85-1] (59) with acetic anhydride in 42% yield and 92% selectivity (74). 

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