Zou_2016_Biotechnol.Lett_38_1579

OBJECTIVE: To improve the operational stability and reusability of an epoxide hydrolase (EH) for the biosynthesis of optically active epoxides. RESULTS: A covalently immobilization strategy was employed to improve the stability of Agrobacterium radiobacter EH by using ethylenediamine (EDA)-functionalised epoxy resin LX-1000EP as carrier. Under the optimal conditions, the activity recovery of immobilized enzyme was 72 % and the specific activity was 634 U/g. Immobilized EH exhibited significantly enhanced thermal stability with a half-life of more than 6.8-fold at 50 degreesC than that of the free enzyme. A gram-scale kinetic resolution of (R,S)-epichlorohydrin using immobilized preparation as biocatalyst was performed and (R)-epichlorohydrin was obtained with 35 % yield and 99 % enantiomeric excess. The immobilized EH showed good operational stability and even after six reactions, it retained >85 % of the initial activity. CONCLUSION: The operational stability and recyclability of immobilized EH on an EDA-functionalized epoxy supports demonstrated its potential for producing (R)-epichlorohydrin.