Summary An enzyme packed microreactor was compared with a batch reactor system to determine effects of reaction water content on immobilized CALB (N435) reusability, end-group functionalization with benzyl alcohol (BzOH), apparent e-CL conversion rate constants (kapp), PCL average molar mass (Mn) and CALB leaching from Lewatit beads.  The apparent rate constant in microreactor was 27 times larger than in batch reactor. Furthermore, in microreactor, the Mn vs. conversion plots for 'dry' and 'water saturated' conditions were similar. In contrast, under 'water saturated' conditions in batch reactor, Mn is much lower.  Moreover, at both high and low water content, higher end-group functionalization was achieved for polymerizations in microreactor (0.75 to = 0.98) as compared to batch reactor (0.2). Enzyme leaching for microreactor and batch systems were also compared.  Acknowledgements A.B. and R.G. would like to acknowledge the NSF center for Biocatalysis and Bioprocessing at NYU-POLY for its financial support. Equipment, instruments, or materials are identified in the paper in order to adequately specify the experimental details. Such identification does not imply recommendation by National Institute of Standards and Technology, nor does it imply the materials are necessarily the best available for the purpose.  Official contribution of the National Institute of Standards and Technology; not subject to copyright in the United States.

Promising results from enzyme-catalyzed polyester synthesis in a microchannel reactor

244th National Meeting (2012)

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