title: Lipase catalysis in organic solvents: advantages and applications.
abstract: Lipases are industrial biocatalysts, which are involved in several novel reactions, occurring in aqueous medium as well as non-aqueous medium. Furthermore, they are well-known for their remarkable ability to carry out a wide variety of chemo-, regio- and enantio-selective transformations. Lipases have been gained attention worldwide by organic chemists due to their general ease of handling, broad substrate tolerance, high stability towards temperatures and solvents and convenient commercial availability. Most of the synthetic reactions on industrial scale are carried out in organic solvents because of the easy solubility of non-polar compounds. The effect of organic system on their stability and activity may determine the biocatalysis pace. Because of worldwide use of lipases, there is a need to understand the mechanisms behind the lipase-catalyzed reactions in organic solvents. The unique interfacial activation of lipases has always fascinated enzymologists and recently, biophysicists and crystallographers have made progress in understanding the structure-function relationships of these enzymes. The present review describes the advantages of lipase-catalyzed reactions in organic solvents and various effects of organic solvents on their activity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology, Himachal Pradesh University, Shimla, 171 005 India.
authors.forename: Ashok
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.affiliation: Departmentof Microbiology, University of Chittagong, Chittagong, Bangladesh.
authors.forename: Kartik
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Dhar
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology, Himachal Pradesh University, Shimla, 171 005 India.
authors.forename: Shamsher Singh
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Kanwar
authors.affiliation: School of Biotechnology, Yeungnam University, Gyeongsan, 712-749 Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Pankaj Kumar
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Arora
keywords: Biocatalysis; Industrial applications; Lipase; Organic media; Transformations