Effect of solvent polarity on enzymatic function of poly[(N-acylimino)ethylene] modified lipase

The effects of the polarity of various water-immiscible organic solvents on the enzymatic esterification activities of three modified Candida cylindra cea lipases, which were prepared by the chemical modification of lipase wit h poly[(N-acetylimino)ethylene] (2a), poly[(N-propionylimino) ethylene] (2b ) and poly[(N-isobutyrylimino) ethylene] (2c), were examined and their enzy matic activities were tried to correlate to the logarithm of the partition coefficient of the solvent between water and 1-octanol (log P). It was foun d that although the activity increased with increasing the hydrophobicity o f the solvent and with increasing the hydrophobicity of the N-substituent o f 2, a great rate enhancement of the enzymatic activity was achieved in ben zene and toluene by the chemical modification by 2b or 2c, while unmodified lipase and 2a-modified one were almost inactive in them. Moreover, the eff ect of water concentration in organic solvent was investigated.