BESSICC, a COSMO-RS based tool for in silico solvent screening of biocatalyzed reactions.

Many enzymatic reactions are near-equilibrium reactions. This often limits final yield and hence application of biocatalyzed processes in the industrial production. The most widely applied strategy to overcome this issue is solvent selection. It must be underlined that measuring the equilibrium position experimentally is a difficult and time-consuming procedure and any tool for predicting the solvent effect on the reaction equilibrium can be very valuable. The present work reports on the development of BESSICC, an algorithm to calculate the effect of medium composition on biocatalyzed reactions equilibrium. It is based on COSMO-RS calculation of activity coefficients of all the species in the reaction mixture and minimization of Gibbs free energy of the reaction. Starting from one single experimental measurement of the equilibrium position for a given biocatalyzed reaction it can predict the yield of the reaction in any other solvent or solvent mixture. Predictions are accurate, the errors of prediction are in average below 25% for the esterification of dodecanoic acid with menthol and below 65% for esterification of 1-dodecanoic acid with 1-dodecanol. The best predictions show an error well below 5%.

Understanding enzyme action at solid surfaces.

In solid-phase synthesis, there is interest in using enzymes that normally act on dissolved substrates. It is normally observed that rates and yields are substantially reduced when the usual substrates are covalently attached to a solid particle. Recently, there has been some progress in understanding the reasons for this, and hence how to improve behaviour. Diffusion of enzyme molecules into some of the support particles used in solid-phase chemistry is slow or absent. Methods are now available to visualize the sites of reaction, and hence detect this problem, and identify better support materials. Chemical equilibrium positions for reactions at the surface can be substantially altered compared with those in solution, so may unexpectedly limit yields. The shift can also be exploited to carry out, for example, direct synthesis of peptide bonds in an aqueous environment. The rate of enzyme attack depends on how the substrate moiety is attached to the surface, with an optimal 'spacer' length.

Enzymatic synthesis of beta-lactam antibiotics via direct condensation.

In this paper, the feasibility of precipitation driven synthesis of acidic and zwitterionic beta-lactam antibiotics is studied. As an example of the first type, penicillin G was produced in good yield (160 mmol kg(-1)) directly from the free acid and amine aqueous substrate suspension, where the synthesis product precipitated. Such a precipitation driven synthesis via direct reversal of the hydrolytic reaction is thermodynamically unfavourable for zwitterionic beta-lactam antibiotics, such as amoxicillin. In this paper, a novel method is suggested to help favour precipitation of (poorly soluble) product salts by deliberate addition of certain counter-ions. After screening a number of different counter-ions, it was found that the amoxicillin anion forms a poorly soluble salt with Zn(2+). Despite increased beta-lactam degradation due to the presence of zinc ions, in a synthetic reaction with 0.1 M ZnSO(4) present the synthetic yield could be increased at least 30-fold.

Tuning of the product spectrum of vanillyl-alcohol oxidase by medium engineering.

The flavoenzyme vanillyl-alcohol oxidase (VAO) catalyzes the conversion of 4-alkylphenols through the initial formation of p-quinone methide intermediates. These electrophilic species are stereospecifically attacked by water to yield (R)-1-(4'-hydroxyphenyl)alcohols or rearranged in a competing reaction to 1-(4'-hydroxyphenyl)alkenes. Here, we show that the product spectrum of VAO can be controlled by medium engineering. When the enzymatic conversion of 4-propylphenol was performed in organic solvent, the concentration of the alcohol decreased and the concentration of the cis-alkene, but not the trans-alkene, increased. This change in selectivity occurred in both toluene and acetonitrile and was dependent on the water activity of the reaction medium. A similar shift in alcohol/cis-alkene product ratio was observed when the VAO-mediated conversion of 4-propylphenol was performed in the presence of monovalent anions that bind specifically near the enzyme active site.

Predicting when precipitation-driven synthesis is feasible: application to biocatalysis.

Precipitation-driven synthesis offers the possibility of obtaining high reaction yields using very low volume reactors and is finding increasing applications in biocatalysis. Here, a model that allows straightforward prediction of when such a precipitation-driven reaction will be thermodynamically feasible is presented. This requires comparison of the equilibrium constant, Keq, with the saturated mass action ratio, Zsat, defined as the ratio of product solubilities to reactant solubilities. A hypothetical thermodynamic cycle that can be used to accurately predict Zsat, in water is described. The cycle involves three main processes: fusion of a solid to a supercooled liquid, ideal mixing of the liquid with octanol, and partitioning from octanol to water. To obtain the saturated mass action ratio using this cycle, only the melting points of the reactants and products, and in certain cases the pKa of ionisable groups, are required as input parameters. The model was tested on a range of enzyme-catalysed peptide syntheses from the literature and found to predict accurately when precipitation-driven reaction was possible. The methodology employed is quite general and the model is therefore expected to be applicable to a wide range of other (bio)-catalysed reactions.

Supercritical fluids are superior media for catalysis by cross-linked enzyme microcrystals of subtilisin Carlsberg.

We report on the performance of cross-linked enzyme microcrystals (CLECs) of subtilisin Carlsberg in supercritical fluids (SC-fluids). The catalytic activity of CLECs in SC-ethane was found to be 2- to 10-fold greater than in hexane under the same conditions, using CLECs dried by propanol washing. Air-dried CLECs and lyophilized powders showed much lower activities, reflecting the same hydration hysteresis effects as in organic solvents. Reaction rates were much lower in SC-CO(2), especially at higher water activity, probably as a result of acid-base effects of carbonic acid on the enzyme.

Chemical modification probes accessibility to organic phase: proteins on surfaces are more exposed than in lyophilized powders.

Chemical modification of myoglobin and cutinase suspended in n-hexane by acyl chlorides and iodine was monitored by electrospray mass spectrometry. The general rate of modification was always much faster for protein adsorbed to supports (silica or polypropylene) than for lyophilized powders. Modification rates were slower for larger acyl chlorides, particularly with lyophilized powders. About 20% of the protein molecules in lyophilized powders were modified much more quickly than the rest, a fraction consistent with those exposed on the surface of the solid. It appears that access to most of the molecules in lyophilized powders requires a very slow stage of solid-phase diffusion. This has been neglected in previous discussion of mass transfer limitation of lyophilized enzymes in organic media, and would not be revealed by the experimental evidence used to dismiss it. Studies of the effects of particle size and dilution with inactive protein are only sensitive to diffusion in liquid-filled pores, not through the solid phase. Slow solid-phase diffusion is not required for access to most support-adsorbed proteins, which is probably a major contributory factor to their enhanced catalytic efficiency in organic media. Hydration of lyophilized proteins accelerates chemical modification rates, as it does their catalytic activity. The main site of reaction of acyl chlorides in organic media is not amino groups (which are probably ion-paired), but is likely to be hydroxyl groups instead.

Development of small-size tubular-flow continuous reactors for the analysis of operational stability of enzymes in low-water systems.

A very small-scale continuous flow reactor has been designed for use with enzymes in organic media, particularly for operational stability studies. It is constructed from fairly inexpensive components, and typically uses 5 mg of catalyst and flow rates of 1 to 5 mL/h, so only small quantities of feedstock need to be handled. The design allows control of the thermodynamic water activity of the feed, and works with temperatures up to at least 80 degrees C. The reactor has been operated with both nonpolar (octane) and polar (4-methyl-pentan-2-one) solvents, and with the more viscous solvent-free reactant mixture. It has been applied to studies of the operational stability of lipases from Chromobacterium viscosum (lyophilized powder or polypropylene-adsorbed) and Rhizomucor miehei (Lipozyme) in different experimental conditions. Transesterification of geraniol and ethylcaproate has been adopted as a model transformation.

Kinetics of enzymatic solid-to-solid peptide synthesis: synthesis of Z-aspartame and control of acid-base conditions by using inorganic salts.

Enzymatic peptide synthesis can be carried out efficiently in solid-to-solid reaction mixtures with 10% (w/w) water added to a mixture of substrates. The final reaction mass contains >/=80% (by weight) of product. This article deals with acid-base effects in such reaction mixtures and the consequences for the enzyme. In the Thermoase-catalyzed synthesis of Z-Asp-Phe-OMe, the reaction rate is strongly dependent on the amount of basic salts added to the system. The rate increases 20 times, as the KHCO(3) or K(2)CO(3) added is raised 2.25-fold from an amount equimolar to the Phe-OMe. HCL starting material. With further increases in KHCO(3) addition, the initial rate remains at the maximum, but with K(2)CO(3) it drops sharply. Addition of NaHCO(3) is less effective, but rates are faster if more water is used. With >1.5 equivalents of basic salt, the final yield of the reaction decreases. Similar effects are observed when thermolysin catalyzes the same reaction, or Z-Gln-Leu-NH(2) synthesis. These effects can be rationalized using a model estimating the pH of these systems, taking into account the possible formation of up to ten different solid phases.

Comparison of methods for thermolysin-catalyzed peptide synthesis including a novel more active catalyst.

This is a comparative study of the performance of thermolysin for enzymatic peptide synthesis by reversed hydrolysis in several different reaction systems. Z-Gln-Leu-NH(2) was synthesized in acetonitrile containing 5% water (with various catalyst preparation methods) as well as by the "solid-to-solid" and frozen aqueous methods. Reaction rates (values in nanomoles per minute per milligram) in acetonitrile depended significantly on the method of addition of enzyme: (a) direct suspension in the reaction mixture as freeze-dried powders gave 60 to 95; (b) addition as an aqueous solution, so that enzyme precipitates on mixing with acetonitrile, gave 230; (c) addition as an aqueous suspension gave a remarkable increase in reaction rates (up to 780); (d) immobilized enzymes (adsorbed at saturating loading on celite, silica, Amberlite XAD-7, or polypropylene, then dried by propanol rinsing) all gave <230. It is postulated that, starting with the enzyme already in the form of solid particles in aqueous buffer, there is a minimum chance of alteration of its optimal conformation during transfer to the organic medium. For solid-to-solid synthesis with 10% water content we found initial rates of 670 under optimized conditions. In frozen aqueous synthesis, rates were <10. Equilibrium yields were always around 60% in low water organic solvent, whereas they were found to >80% in the aqueous systems studied.

Biocatalysis in low-water media: understanding effects of reaction conditions.

The key role played by counter-ions with enzymes in low-water systems has become better appreciated with, for example, large effects on enantioselectivity. In low-dielectric media, counter-ions will associate strongly with charges in the protein or its substrates. Studies of temperature dependence have shown that hard-to-model entropies have a significant effect on behaviour, including enantioselectivity. Evidence has been presented that the supramolecular organisation of enzyme molecules can have important effects on behaviour, for example collapse of microstructure in cross-linked crystals.

Effect of pH on rate of interfacial inactivation of serine proteases in aqueous-organic systems.

We studied the inactivation of trypsin and alpha- and beta-chymotrypsin by passage of droplets of tridecane though their aqueous solutions. The mechanism involves contact with the interface, because the loss of activity is proportional to the total area exposed. The rates of inactivation vary up to fivefold over the pH range 3 to 10. However, there is no clear maximum at the isoelectric point (pI) of each enzyme, where the amount of protein adsorbed is usually found to be highest. This is probably because, at the pI, there is also a minimum in structural alteration on adsorption. There may be a weak correlation with pH effects on foamability of the enzyme solutions, a parameter reported to reflect the "hardness" of different proteins, which controls their interfacial unfolding. The pH dependence of both inactivation and hardness cautions against attempts to correlate inactivation of different enzymes with a single value of a parameter such as adiabatic compressibility. There is no correlation between the effects of pH on interfacial inactivation and those reported in the literature on irreversible inactivation in concentrated urea or at high temperature.

Kinetics of enzymatic solid-to-solid peptide synthesis: intersubstrate compound, substrate ratio, and mixing effects.

A systematic study of thermolysin-catalyzed solid-to-solid peptide synthesis using Z-Gln and Leu-NH2 as model substrates was carried out. The aim was to extend the kinetic knowledge of this new reaction system involving highly concentrated substrate mixtures with little water (10% to 20% w/w). Preheating of the substrates, and ultrasonic treatment, as described in the literature, had no significant effect on our system. The formation of a third compound, the salt of the two substrates, was discovered during melting point experiments. This was associated with a very strong dependence of kinetics on the exact substrate ratio (e.g., twofold higher initial rate with 60% Leu-NH2 and 40% Z-Gln than with the equimolar substrate ratio). A model was developed to show how the composition and pH of the liquid phase depends on the substrate ratio, and seemed to explain the experimental rates. In addition, the influences of different mixing and water distribution methods are described. Finally, we can now summarize the major effects of the reaction system as a starting point for further research and scale-up studies.

Volatile buffers can override the "pH memory" of subtilisin catalysis in organic media.

The protonation state and activity of enzymes in low-water media are affected by the aqueous pH before drying ("pH memory"). However, both protonation and activity will change if buffer ions can be removed as volatile or organic-extractable weak acids or bases. With NH4OOCH buffers, in which both ions can be removed, pH memory disappears completely for subtilisin-catalyzed transesterification in hexane. Only weak pH memory is found with buffers having one volatile component, NH4-phosphate and NaOOCH. The changes in ionization state result from proton exchanges like Protein-COO-NH4+ --> Protein-COOH + NH3 (g) and Protein-NH3+HCOO- --> Protein-NH2 + HOOCH (g). An equivalent, complementary picture is that net charges on the protein and buffer ions must remain equal and opposite. With NaOOCH buffers, loss of some HCOO- ions gives a more negative net charge on the protein, balanced by the excess Na+. With NH4-phosphate buffers, loss of NH3 gives protein with a more positive net charge. The resulting catalytic activities were high and low, respectively, similar to those after drying from Na-phosphate buffers of optimal (8.5) and acid pH. All of the above effects have been demonstrated for both covalently immobilized subtilisin and the lyophilized free enzyme. Subtilisin lyophilized from NH4OOCH buffers gave pH approximately 4 after redissolution in water, probably because removal of HCOO- counterions remains incomplete. The resulting catalytic activity was low. The effects are discussed in relation to the possible locations, in low-dielectric media, of the positive charge that balances the net negative catalytic triad in active subtilisin.

Activity and mobility of subtilisin in low water organic media: hydration is more important than solvent dielectric.

The relationship between hydration, catalytic activity and protein dynamics was investigated for subtilisin Carlsberg in organic solvents with low water content. The organic media were cyclohexane, dichloromethane or acetonitrile, with controlled thermodynamic water activity (aw). Catalytic rate profiles showed the same dependence on aw for the three different solvents. The structural mobility of the enzyme in air and organic media was probed by proton solid-state NMR relaxation measurements. Both spin-lattice relaxation time (T1 ) and line width at half height (apparent spin-spin relaxation time (T2)) were determined for protein which was exchanged and hydrated with D2O. We found NMR relaxation was much more dependent on aw than medium identity (despite very different dielectrics) showing that enzyme hydration is the primary determinant of mobility. Results suggest that initial hydration up to aw 0.22 causes rigidification of part of the protein structure. As aw is increased further, enzyme mobility is found to increase. Above aw 0.44, a large increase in the proportion of more mobile protons coincides with a steep rise in catalytic activity for the enzyme in each of the solvents studied.

Effect of water and enzyme concentration on thermolysin-catalyzed solid-to-solid peptide synthesis.

We have studied a thermolysin-catalyzed solid-to-solid dipeptide synthesis using equimolar amounts of Z-Gln-OH and H-Leu-NH2 as model substrates. The high substrate concentrations make this an effective alternative to enzymatic peptide synthesis in organic solvents. Water content was varied in the range of 0 to 600 mL water per mol substrate and enzyme concentration in the range of 0.5 to 10 g/mol of substrates. High yields around 80% conversion and initial rates from 5 to 20 mmol s-1 kg-1 were achieved. The initial rate increases 10-fold on reducing the water content, to reach a pronounced optimum at 40 mL water per mol substrate. Below this, the rate falls to much lower values in a system with no added water, and to zero in a rigorously dried system. This behavior is discussed in terms of two factors: At higher water contents the system is mass transfer limited (as shown by varying enzyme content), and the diffusion distances required vary. At low water levels, effects reflect the stimulation of the enzymatic activity by water.

Selection of salt hydrate pairs for use in water control in enzyme catalysis in organic solvents.

The water activities (a(w)) of 13 salt hydrate pairs were determined from vapor pressure measurements; a(w) values for a subset were also estimated from a study of water transfer to isopropylether. The application of salt hydrates as water buffers was investigated in two models: (i) effect of hydration on the initial rate of subtilisincatalyzed transesterification of the nitrophenol ester of CBZ-alanine with butanol; and (ii) effect of hydrates on the equilibrium concentrations of reactants in the esterification of dodecanol and decanoic acid, catalyzed by lipase. Transfer of ions from salt to enzyme particles was also demonstrated. The implications of the results for the successful use of salt hydrates as water buffers are discussed. (c) 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Biotechnol Bioeng 55: 367-374, 1997.

Substrate specificity and kinetics of Candida rugosa lipase in organic media.

The fatty acid specificity of lipase from Candida rugosa during the esterification of saturated fatty acids and sulcatol in toluene has been studied. The true kinetic parameters are obtained by fitting the experimental data to a Ping-Pong kinetic model that includes alcohol inhibition. The fitted parameter values are compared with apparent values that would be obtained from restricted data sets in which one of the substrate concentrations was kept constant. It has been found that in reactions inhibited by alcohol the true Ping-Pong parameters can be significantly different from the apparent ones. Corrections for solvation are made by using activities instead of concentrations to fit the kinetic parameters. Though activity coefficients, estimated using the UNIFAC group contribution method, vary by over 25% for changing concentrations in the same solvent, their use did not improve the fit to the data. This contrasts with what has been found in comparisons of different solvents, where the differences in activity coefficients are much larger.