The development and evaluation of a continuous flow process for the lipase-mediated oxidation of alkenes

• Published in: Beilstein Journal of Organic Chemistry
• Main Authors: Charlotte Wiles, Marcus J. Hammond, Paul Watts
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Beilstein-Institut 2009
• Subjects: Candida antarctica lipase B; continuous flow; epoxidation; hydrogen peroxide; lipase; micro reactor; Novozym® 435; peracids; Science; Q; Organic chemistry; QD241-441; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.3762/bjoc.5.27; https://doaj.org/article/912f776f21244f148a5f1430f1277f29

We report the use of an immobilised form of Candida antarctica lipase B, Novozym® 435, in a preliminary investigation into the development of a continuous flow reactor capable of performing the chemo-enzymatic oxidation of alkenes in high yield and purity, utilising the commercially available oxidant hydrogen peroxide (100 volumes). Initial investigations focussed on the lipase-mediated oxidation of 1-methylcyclohexene, with the optimised reaction conditions subsequently employed for the epoxidation of an array of aromatic and aliphatic alkenes in 97.6 to 99.5% yield and quantitative purity.