Process for preparation of (R) and (S)-1-Phenylethanol through enzymatic resolution by Serratia marcescens and the characterization of the enantioselective lipase
Madhu Smita and Rohit Sharma*
Department of Microbial Biotechnology, Panjab University, Chandigarh, India *Corresponding author- E-mail: rohit28@pu.ac.in Phone No. 91-172-2536161
ABSTRACT
Bioconversion of valuable compounds by enzymes has always been one of the main areas of intense scientific research over the years. In the present study isolation of lipase producing bacteria from edible oil contaminated site, industrial waste soil and water was undertaken. Initial Screening of bacterial isolates was done with p-NPP (p-Nitrophenyl Palmitate) as lipase substrate. Out of 95 bacterial isolates, 15 isolates were selected on the basis of their lipolytic activity with p-NPP. The final selection of the best performing bacterium was done on the basis of its ability to grow on different racemic mixtures and compounds that have a high commercial value (1-Phenylethanol, 2-Pentanol, 2- Octanol, 2-Heptanol). Out of the 15 isolates, RMS 43 was found to be the best to grow on these compounds. Subsequent optimization of different parameters for RMS 43 was carried out to maximize the lipase production. The optimization was done w.r.t. temperature, pH and then the stability of RMS 43 at optimal temperature, pH, with different organic solvents, effect of different modifiers (enhancers, metal ions, surfactants) has been found out. In this study biotransformation of 1-Phenylethanol with the non-commercial and wild type lipase in non-aqueous environment has been investigated. A systematic optimization of the biotransformation reaction parameters such as molar ratio of alcohol:acyl donor, temperature and concentration of water was also performed.