M. Miyanaga et al., Kinetic analysis for synthesis of a dipeptide precursor using an immobilized enzyme in water-immiscible organic solvents, J BIOSCI BI, 90(1), 2000, pp. 112-114
N-(Benzyloxycarbonyl)-L-aspartyl-L-phenylalanine methyl ester (Z-AspPheOMe)
, a precursor of the synthetic sweetener aspartame, was synthesized, using
thermolysin immobilized onto Amberlite XAD-7, both in ethyl acetate and in
tert-amyl alcohol. The initial rates for synthesis of Z-AspPheOMe in the or
ganic solvents were predicted on the basis of a model proposed for an aqueo
us/organic biphasic reaction and compared with the experimentally observed
substrate concentration dependencies. The experimental synthetic rates usin
g the enzyme immobilized at a high enzyme concentration were lower than the
calculated ones over a wide range of the substrate concentration. It was s
uggested as a reason for this discrepancy that the enzyme molecules form co
mpact aggregates and those existing inside the aggregates cannot be utilize
d for reaction. The experimental results with the enzyme immobilized at a l
ow concentration in ethyl acetate coincided well with the calculated ones.
On the other hand, when tert-amyl alcohol was used, the experimental result
s were different in tendency irrespective of the amount of enzyme loaded, p
robably due to the fact that a distinct water phase does not exist around t
he enzyme aggregates inside the support.