A homologous series of biosurfactants has been synthesized by a novel sustainable biotransformation technique and compared with three other enzymatic processes. 6-O-Alkanoyl-methyl-a-D-glucopyranosides were obtained by lipase mediated esterification of methyl-a-D-glucopyranoside with capric acid C 10:0 , lauric acid C 12:0 , myristic acid C 14:0 , palmitic acid C 16:0 , and oleic acid C 18:1 . Solvent free transformations were compared with the use of ionic liquids and organic solvents. The lipase from Candida antarctica B, immobilized on macroporous acrylic acid beads (Novozyme 435), was employed either untreated or coated with small amounts of ionic liquids. This resulted in superior efficiencies (80%) with 1-butyl-4-methylpyridine hexafluorophosphate [4bmpy][PF 6 ] and broader substrate tolerance in comparison to solvent free transformation. The results show a positive correlation with increasing polarity of the ionic liquids used as liquid film-coating, which was in opposition to the use of the same ionic liquid as solvent. The analysis of the ionic liquid film coated catalyst carriers was performed by optical and scanning electron microscopy (SEM).
Enzyme catalysis with minimal ionic liquid quantities improves reaction rates, stereoselectivity and enables solvent-free processing. In particular the widely used lipases combine well with many ionic liquids. Demonstrated applications are racemate separation, esterification and glycerolysis. Minimal solvent processing is also an alternative to sluggish solvent-free catalysis. The method allows simplified down-stream processing, as only traces of ionic liquids have to be removed.
In chemico methods, based on the assessment of hapten reactivity toward peptides, have been proposed as alternative methods for the assessment of the skin sensitizing potential of chemicals. However, even if these approaches seem very promising, a major drawback inherent to most in vitro methods is the poor water solubility of many organic molecules in aqueous media. Thus, semiorganic media based on buffer solutions and organic cosolvents such as ethanol or acetonitrile have been proposed, but a narrow equilibrium should be found between the peptide and chemical solubilities. Microemulsions have been shown to be very valuable when reacting a lipophilic organic compound soluble in hydrophobic media with a very hydrophilic organic substance insoluble in most organic solvents. However, the reaction rate between polar and apolar reactants can be influenced, in some cases, by the use of microemulsions. On the basis of NMR experiments, we have compared the reactivity of hydroxycitronellal 1 and citral 2, two weak fragrance sensitizers of major clinical relevance, toward glutathione used as a model nucleophile in a water/acetonitrile 2:1 mixture and in a microemulsion based on chloroform/water/tert-butanol/sodium dodecylsulphate. Hydroxycitronellal and citral were found to react with the thiol group of glutathione to form, in both media, identical adducts, but the observed reaction rates were found to be different. In the case of hydroxycitronellal, the observed reaction rate of glutathione addition on the aldehyde was found to be about three times higher in the microemulsion compared to the classical semiorganic mixture. In the case of citral, the situation was more complex as the Michael addition of glutathione on the conjugated double bond was found to be significantly faster in the classical semiorganic mixture, while the subsequent reaction of a second glutathione molecule on the aldehyde was found to be faster in the microemulsion. This chloroform/water/tert-butanol/sodium dodecylsulphate microemulsion, apparently of the bicontinuous type according to DOSY data, could be of potential interest for the in chemico evaluation of lipophilic chemicals toward peptides to solve solubility problems even if the impact on the chemical rate needs to be further investigated.
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