Hydrophobic microenvironment optimization for efficient immobilization of lipases on octadecyl functionalised resins

A novel family of spherical beads made of octadecyl (OD) functionalised methacrylic resins for lipase immobilization was developed. The activity of the immobilized lipase reflected the effect of OD functional groups density (0.3–1.48 mmol OD/gdry) on the hydrophobic microenvironment. The immobilized enzyme activity on Lifetech ECR8806 was outstanding: lipase from Candida antarctica B (CALB) showed activity higher than 15,000 PLU/gdry. A significantly high activity was also observed for immobilized lipases from Rhizomucor miehi (RM) and Thermomices lanuginosus (TL), confirming the positive effect provided by the OD functional groups grafted on the methacrylic polymer backbone.