Kinetic resolutions with novel, highly enantioselective fungal lipases produced by solid state fermentation

Thirty-eight filamentous fungi cultivated under solid state fermentation (SSF) conditions were screened for lipase activity and enantioselectivity in kinetic resolutions of racemic secondary alcohols (rac-1a–c) by acetylation with vinyl acetate performed in organic solvents. Many of the target fungi have not been studied previously for lipase/esterase activity and enantioselectivity. Without special enzyme isolation processes, the room temperature (25 °C) dried SSF cultures as such were tested in the enantiomer selective biotransformations. The majority of these SSF preparations proved to be effective as enantiomer selective biocatalysts exhibiting high but usual enantioselectivities according to the Kazlauskas rule. However, the SSF preparation of Mucor hiemalis origin acted as a selective anti-Kazlauskas catalyst. The best SSF products were successfully applied in preparative scale resolutions.