Design of reactive porous polymer supports for high throughput bioreactors: Poly(2-vinyl-4,4-dimethylazlactone-co-acrylamide-co-ethylene dimethacrylate) monoliths

Enzymatic bioreactors with both high flow characteristics and mechanical stability based on macroporous poly(2‐vinyl‐4,4‐dimethylazlactone‐co‐acrylamide‐co‐ethylene dimethacrylate) monoliths have been prepared. Covalent immobilization of trypsin on these support is achieved in a single reaction step using the azlactone functional groups. Optimization of hydrophilic/hydrophobic properties of the monolith affords a support that does not shrink in water and leads to immobilized enzyme that shows high activity in the hydrolysis of both low and high molecular weight substrates such as l‐benzoyl arginine ethyl ester and casein. The catalytic activity of the monolithic reactor is maintained even at a flow velocity of 180 cm/min, which substantially exceeds those reported in the literature for packed bed reactors. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Biotechnol Bioeng 62: 30–35, 1999.