Carbohydrate base co-polymers as an efficient immobilization matrix to enhance lipase activity for potential biocatalytic applications.

In the present study, we have synthesized biocompatible hybrid blend of cellulosic polymers of hydroxypropyl-methyl-cellulose (HPMC) and chitosan (CHY) for the immobilization of Candida rugosa lipase (CRL). The immobilized biocatalyst HPMC:CHY:CRL was subjected for characterization such as SEM, TGA, water content analysis, lipase activity, specific activity and protein content analysis. The kinetic parameter study (Rmax/Km) demonstrated improved biocatalytic activity of lipase after immobilization on carbohydrate co-polymers of HPMC:CHY. This biocatalyst was then employed to study practical biocatalytic applications for kinetic resolution which provided 50% conversion and >94% enantiomeric excess of substrate/product (ees/eep). The protocol demonstrated excellent recyclability upto five cycles. Finally, we studied influence of immobilization on cellulosic polymers for substrate, structure and reactivity for kinetic resolution. Hence, we investigated R0 (initial reaction rate), E-value (enantioselectivity) and Ea (activation energy). This study confirms that, lipase immobilized on carbohydrate polymers had 3-4 folds higher biocatalytic activity as compared to crude CRL.