Immobilized Lipases on Functionalized Silica Particles as Potential Biocatalysts for the Synthesis of Fructose Oleate in an Organic Solvent/Water System

Lipases from Thermomyces lanuginosus (TLL) and Pseudomonas fluorescens (PFL) were immobilized on functionalized silica particles aiming their use in the synthesis of fructose oleate in a tert-butyl alcohol/water system. Silica particles were chemically modified with octyl (OS), octyl plus glutaraldehyde (OSGlu), octyl plus glyoxyl (OSGlx), and octyl plus epoxy groups (OSEpx). PFL was hyperactivated on all functionalized supports (more than 100% recovered activity) using low protein loading (1 mg/g), however, for TLL, this phenomenon was observed only using octyl-silica (OS). All prepared biocatalysts exhibited high stability by incubating in tert-butyl alcohol (half-lives around 50 h at 65 °C). The biocatalysts prepared using OS and OSGlu as supports showed excellent performance in the synthesis of fructose oleate. High ester synthesis was observed when a small amount of water (1%, v/v) was added to the organic phase, allowing an ester productivity until five times (0.88–0.96 g/L.h) higher than in the absence of water (0.18–0.34 g/L.h) under fixed enzyme concentration (0.51 IU/g of solvent). Maximum ester productivity (16.1–18.1 g/L.h) was achieved for 30 min of reaction catalyzed by immobilized lipases on OS and OSGlu at 8.4 IU/mL of solvent. Operational stability tests showed satisfactory stability after four consecutive cycles of reaction.