Immobilization engineering – How to design advanced sol–gel systems for biocatalysis?

An immobilization engineering approach using bioinformatics and experimental design tools was applied to improve the sol–gel enzyme entrapment methodology. This strategy was used for the immobilization of lipase B from Candida antarctica (CaLB), a versatile enzyme widely used even on the industrial scale. The optimized entrapment of CaLB in sol–gel matrices is reported by the response-surface methodology enabling efficient process development. The immobilized CaLBs characterized by functional efficiency and enhanced recovery provided economical and green options for flow chemistry. Various ternary mixtures of sol–gel precursors allowed the creation of tailored entrapment matrices best suited for the enzyme and its targeted substrate. The sol–gel-entrapped forms of CaLB were excellent biocatalysts in the kinetic resolutions of secondary alcohols and secondary amines with aromatic or aliphatic substituents both in batch and continuous-flow biotransformations.