Using water miscible ionic liquid to improve the efficiency of 15α-hydroxylation of 13-ethyl-gon-4-en-3,17-dione by Penicillium raistrickii

Abstract

Improved efficiency of steroid microbial transformation by co-solvents is generally attributed to their positive effects on the solubility of substrate in aqueous media. Ionic liquids have been widely researched as possible 'green' replacements for organic solvents. In this study, the effect of water miscible ionic liquids on the 15α-hydroxylation of 13-ethyl-gon-4-en-3,17-dione by Penicillium raistrickii ATCC 10490 was investigated. The results indicated that the striking improvement of biotransformation of substrates up to 94.46 % were obtained after addition of [BMIM]BF4 under the optimized conditions. This also resulted in morphological changes of P. raistrickii mycelia in the fermentation broth with or without [BMIM]BF4. Based on the above observations, we therefore conclude that [BMIM]BF4-induced changes of mycelial morphology of P. raistrickii have positive effects on the production of the desired product, thus most likely contributing to the observed higher yield of steroid biotransformation in addition to [BMIM]BF4 known effects on substrate solubility. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2014.