Enhancing lipases reactivity in benzylic acetates hydrolysis: impact of kosmotropic salts under non-conventional conditions

The effect of four kosmotropic salts additives, namely Na2CO3, Na2SO4, Na2HPO4, and NaCl, on the reactivity and selectivity of immobilized Candida antarctica lipase B (CAL-B) and a free lipase of Pseudomonas cepacia (PCL) during the hydrolysis of rac-4-(1-methoxyphenyl) ethyl and rac − 1-phenyl ethyl acetates (1a-2a) was investigated in this study. The study was carried out in two different mediums: non-aqueous conditions and in low water content media. The impact of the anionic counter-ions was examined in four solvents: nonpolar, semipolar, protic, and aprotic, with and without the aforementioned salts. In non-aqueous media, the addition of Na2CO3 significantly enhanced CAL-B hydrolysis rates, resulting in a conversion of 50% for 1a and 44% for 2a, with high enantioselectivities (E > 200). These effects were independent of the solvent hydrophobicity. In contrast, PCL required the presence of external water for effective hydrolysis of both acetates. The addition of salt additives had an adverse impact on PCL activity during the hydrolysis of 1a in hexane, toluene, and TBME solvents. However, when 2M2B was used, the inclusion of salt additives had a notable positive effect on the conversion rates, except for NaCl, which resulted in a lower conversion rate with a value of 15.5%. The presence of Na2CO3 improved the conversion rate during the hydrolysis of 2a in both hexane and TBME. Na2HPO4 further enhanced the conversion rate, reaching 44% in TBME. However, in 2M2B solvent, the addition of Na2HPO4 significantly reduced the enantioselectivity.