Chiral and Dynamic Microenvironment for Enhanced Interesterification and Hydrolysis Reaction

Developing a favorable reaction microenvironment that highly mimics the natural features of enzymes will improve the catalytic efficiency, stability, and recyclability, thereby ensuring enhanced biocatalysis. Herein, a chiral reaction microenvironment is constructed through in situ immobilization based on the dynamic covalent chemistry among poly(vinyl alcohol), 4-formylphenylboronic acid, and tartaric acid bis-hydrazide. The combination of chiral transfer and the dynamic covalent strategy to construct a stable chiral microenvironment has a positive impact on the catalytic activity of the recipient lipase. At the optimal temperature, the hydrolysis and transesterification catalytic activity enhancement of the l,l-type chiral hydrogel on lipase is 1.88 and 5 times that of free lipase, respectively. Furthermore, the l,l-type chiral system demonstrated superior storage stability and recyclability, along with notably enhanced temperature and pH tolerance, compared to both the d,d-type and free lipase. This work opens opportunities for enzymatic immobilization and will stimulate research on the chiral and dynamic matrix to overcome the limitations of traditional hydrogel materials for enzyme immobilization.