Biomimetic affinity purification of Candida antarctica lipase B

► Biomimetic affinity purification of Candida antarctica lipase B. ► One-step purification effect of ligand columns A9-14. ► Active groups of A9-14 were cyclohexylamine and propenylamine. Candida antarctica lipase B (CalB) is one of the most widely used biocatalysts in organic synthesis. The traditional method for purification of CalB is a multi-step, high cost and low recovery procedure. Biomimetic affinity purification had high efficiency purification. We selected 298 ligand columns from a 700-member library of synthetic ligands to screen Pichia pastoris protein extract. Of the 298, three columns (named as A9-14, A9-10, and A11-33) had one-step purification effect, and A9-14 of these affinity ligands, had both high purification and recovery. The one-step recovery of CalB reached 73% and the purification reached 91% upon purification. The active groups of A9-14 were cyclohexylamine and propenylamine. Furthermore, both A9-14 and A9-10 had the same R1 active group of cyclohexylamine which might act the main binding role for CalB. The synthetic ligand A9-14 had a binding capacity of 0.4 mg/mL and had no negative effects on its hydrolytic activity. Unlike a natural affinity ligand, this synthetic ligand is highly stable to resist 1 M NaOH, and thus has great potential for industrial scale production of CalB.