Acta Chimica Slovaca (ACS) publishes papers on fundamental and applied aspects of chemistry, biochemistry, chemical technology, chemical engineering and process control, biotechnology and food technology. Welcome are also topics which include chemical aspects of materials, physical chemistry and chemical physics, analytical chemistry, macromolecular chemistry and biomedical engineering.

Biotransformation of acetophenone to R -1- phenylethanol with immobilized Pichia capsulata in batch reactor

Viera Illeová *, Pavel Ačai, Jakub Féher, Milan Polakovič

Institute of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Slovak University of Technology, Bratislava

E-mail: * viera.illeova@stuba.sk

Abstract: Biotransformation of acetophenone to R-1-phenylethanol with Pichia capsulata immobilized in Ca-alginate gel beads was studied. Experiments were carried out in a batch reactor stirred on an orbital shaker (300rpm) at 25°C. Based on experimental data, uncoupled parameters of reaction kinetics (measurements with free cells) and diffusion coefficients (sorption method) were estimated. The model expressing the conversion of acetophenone with immobilized cells in the batch reactor consisted of mass balance equations of acetophenone and R-1-phenylethanol in the liquid and solid phases. A satisfactory agreement between the experimental and predicted values of acetophenone and R-1-phenylethanol concentrations was achieved.

Keywords: immobilization, Pichia capsulata chiral alcohols, effective diffusion coefficient, kinetic parameters, reaction-diffusion model prediction

Full paper in Portable Document Format: acs_0217.pdf

Acta Chimica Slovaca, Vol. 8, No. 2, 2015, pp. 107—114, DOI: 10.1515/acs-2015-0019