Enzyme Facilitated Enantioselective Transport of (L)-Lactic Acid through Membranes

Abstract

Production of ethyl lactate in esterification reaction by candida antarctica lipase enzyme was studied The optimal conditions of the synthesis of ethyl lactate was obtained to be: 20 μl/ml lactic acid, 160 μl/ml ethanol, 15 mg/ml Novozym 435 lipase enzyme. The yield obtained is over 90% and the enantiomeric exess is about 20% at temperature of 40 °C in case of 24 hours reaction time under 150 rpm revolution rate . In the present study, the enantioselective transport of the (L)-enantiomer from racemic lactic-acid has been presented through a lipase-facilitated supported liquid membrane (SLM) containing ionic liquids.