Immobilized lipase on porous silica particles: Preparation and application for biodegradable polymer syntheses in ionic liquid at higher temperature

Porous silica particles (PSP) modified with different surface active groups were prepared for covalent immobilization of porcine pancreas lipase (PPL). Organosilanes combined with reactive end amino-group or epoxy-group were employed for the modification through silanization process. Polyethylenimine and long chain alkyl silane coupling agent were also used in the modification process. Several modification-immobilization strategies were performed, while good coupling yield could be achieved within the range of 86.2–158.2 mg of native PPL per gram of the carrier. Furthermore, at higher temperature, the resulting immobilized PPL (IPPL) could successfully perform the syntheses of polycaprolactone (PCL) and poly(5,5-dimethyl-1,3-dioxan-2-one) (PDTC) in ionic liquid medium. No polymers could be obtained catalyzed by native PPL, suggesting that IPPL showed much higher catalytic activity than native PPL. Effect of different treatments on the activity of IPPL also showed the long time high temperature stability in ionic liquid medium, contributing to a good combination of immobilization and ionic liquids effect. The catalytic activity of IPPL for polymerization was closely related to both the properties of immobilized enzyme and cyclic monomer. This work would be expected to highlight further careful design of immobilized enzyme for a wide range of application, especially in biodegradable polymers syntheses.