Enzyme and Microbial Technology, Vol.24, No.8-9, 507-513, 1999
Continuous production and simultaneous precipitation of a dipeptide in a reversed micellar membrane reactor
The dipeptide AcPheLeuNH(2) was continuously synthesized from acetyl phenylalanine ethyl ester (AMPheOEt) and leucinamide (LeuNH(2)) by alpha-chymotrypsin encapsulated in TTAB/heptane/octanol reversed micelles in a ceramic membrane reactor. Simultaneous separation of the dipeptide was achieved by selective precipitation. Apart from the dipeptide, two by-products resulting from the hydrolysis and the transesterification of AcPheOEt with the cosolvent octanol were obtained. The dipeptide was recovered with high purity (higher than 92%) due to precipitation from the complex reaction medium. The influence of the concentration of the two substrates in performance parameters of the continuous reactor such as productivity yields, conversion degree, selectivity, and operational stability was investigated The integration of catalysis and separation in a ceramic membrane reactor led to a one-step process for the production of a dipeptide with a high purity.