Chymotrypsin Adsorbed to a Polyethylene Terephatalate Support (SORSILEN) as a Suitable Model for the Investigation of Enzymatically Catalyzed Organic Syntheses in Nonaqueous Media

The kinetics of acetyl-L-tryptophan esterification by ethanol in an organic solvent immiscible with water (chloroform) and catalyzed by chymotrypsin adsorbed from aqueous solution to a polyethylene terephalate copolymer (SORSILEN) was examined by HPLC. The esterification yield (in %) increased with the decreasing concentration of the substrate and with the increasing activity of immobilized chymotrypsin. It has been shown that there was no chymotrypsin leakage from theaqueous phase on the support surface during the catalysis.