Integration of reactive membrane extraction with lipase-hydrolysis dynamic kinetic resolution of naproxen 2,2,2-trifluoroethyl thioester in isooctane

Lipases immobilized on polypropylene powders have been used as the biocatalyst in the enantio-selective hydrolysis of (S)-naproxen from racemic naproxen thioesters in isooctane, in which trioctylamine was added to perform in situ racemization of the remaining (R)-thioester substrate. A detailed study of the kinetics for hydrolysis and racemization indicates that increasing the trioctylamine concentration can activate and stabilize the lipase as well as enhance the racemization and non-stereoselective hydrolysis of the thioester. Effects of the aqueous pH value and trioctylamine concentration on (S)-naproxen dissociation and partitioning in the aqueous phase as well as the transportation in a hollow fiber membrane were further investigated. Good agreements between the experimental data and theoretical results were obtained when the dynamic kinetic resolution process was integrated with a hollow fiber membrane to reactively extract the desired (S)-naproxen out of the reaction medium.