Recebido em 18/5/04; aceito em 12/11/04; publicado na web em 13/4/05 POTENTIAL OF ENANTIOSELECTIVE BIOCATALYSIS BY MICROBIAL LIPASES. Microbial lipases have a great potential for commercial applications due to their stability, selectivity and broad substrate specificity because many non-natural acids, alcohols or amines can be used as the substrate. Three microbial lipases isolated from Brazilian soil samples (Aspergillus niger; Geotrichum candidum; Penicillium solitum) were compared in terms of their stability and as biocatalysts in the enantioselective esterification using racemic substrates in organic medium. The lipase from Aspergillus niger showed the highest activity (18.2 U/mL) and was highly thermostable, retaining 90% and 60% activity at 50 o C and 60 o C after 1 hour, respectively. In organic medium, this lipase provided the best results in terms of enantiomeric excess of the (S)-active acid (ee = 6.1%) and conversion value (c = 20%) in the esterification of (R,S)-ibuprofen with 1-propanol in isooctane. The esterification reaction of the racemic mixture of (R,S)-2-octanol with decanoic acid proceeded with high enantioselectivity when lipase from Aspergillus niger (E = 13.2) and commercial lipase from Candida antarctica (E = 20) were employed.Keywords: lipases; enantioselectivity; (R,S)-ibuprofen. INTRODUÇÃOA biocatálise é hoje um dos campos mais promissores dentro das novas tecnologias para síntese de compostos de alto valor agregado. A exploração da biodiversidade na busca de novos catalisadores por técnicas de seleção de microrganismos, de plantas ou células animais representam os métodos tradicionais de descoberta de novas enzimas para o desenvolvimento da biocatálise em escala industrial 1 . Os microrganismos neste caso são de particular interesse devido ao curto período de geração, à grande diversidade de processos metabólicos e enzimas envolvidas e, não há um número limitado de microrganismos na natureza que possam ser testados, os quais são bastante diferentes entre si. Microrganismos isolados em território brasileiro têm demonstrado excelente potencial biocatalisador frente a diferentes substratos orgânicos de interesse, como por ex. na hidrólise de óleos marinhos 2,3 , na síntese de ésteres de ácidos graxos poliinsaturados 4 e de ésteres de aroma 5 .Dentre as enzimas hidrolíticas de maior interesse estão as lipases (glicerol ester hidrolase E C. 3.1.1.3), que são biocatalisadores versáteis capazes de catalisar diferentes reações, tanto em meio aquoso como em meio orgânico, com teor de água restrito. Entre as lipases de vegetais, animais e microbianas, estas últimas são as mais utilizadas e, na sua grande maioria, não são nocivas a saúde humana, sendo reconhecidas como "Generally Regarded as Save -GRAS" 6 . Do ponto de vista industrial, os fungos são especialmente valorizados porque as enzimas por eles produzidas normalmente são extracelulares, o que facilita sua recuperação do meio de fermentação 7 . Os trabalhos replatados em literatura sobre lipases fúngicas são numerosos, sendo que os mais ...

-Given the inherent dangers associated with racemic pharmaceuticals, exhaustive studies of techniques designed to separate enantiomers have been conducted. This paper reports a brief review of the different physical, chemical, and enzymatic methods used for the enantiomeric separation of rac-ibuprofen. The possible contribution of each technique to the preparation of enantiomerically pure drugs is reviewed in the context of competitive approaches that depend on the scale of application, with special emphasis on the recent progress achieved in this particular area.

Resolution of (R,S)-ibuprofen (2-(4-isobutylphenyl)propionic acid) enantiomers by esterification reaction with 1-propanol in different organic solvents was studied using native Aspergillus niger lipase. The main variables controlling the process (enzyme concentration and 1-propanol:ibuprofen molar ratio) have been optimized using response surface methodology based on a five-level, two-variable central composite rotatable design, in which the selected objective function was enantioselectivity. This enzyme preparation showed preferentially catalyzes the esterification of R(-)-ibuprofen, and under optimum conditions (7% w/v of enzyme and molar ratio of 2.41:1) the enantiomeric excess of active S(+)-ibuprofen and total conversion values were 79.1 and 48.0%, respectively, and the E-value was 32, after 168 h of reaction in isooctane.

Four high lipase-producing Aspergillus species, selected in our laboratory, were compared in terms of their stability and reactivity for enantioselective esterification between (R, S)-2-octanol with octanoic acid in n-hexane. We determined the pH and temperature reactions dependences of lipases activities, and we found that these enzymes exhibited various pH sensitivities. The optimum pH observed for Aspergillus terreus lipase was 5.5, for A. niger and A. oryzae lipases in the range of 6.0 to 6.5 and pH 7.0 for A. flavus lipase. Good stability was observed at pH ranging from 5.0 to 8.5 after 24 hours at 40° C, and the optimum activity was observed at 35-40° C for all lipases tested. The lipases from A. terreus and A. niger were highly thermostable, retaining 60% and 50% activity at 60° C after 1 hour, respectively. The lipases from A. niger and A. terreus lipases provided the best results in terms of enantioselectivity (E) in the esterification of (R, S)-2-octanol with octanoic acid in n-hexane (E = 4.9 and E = 4.5, respectively). These properties make these lipases good candidates for biocatalysis in organic media.