Functional Characterization of a New Antarctic Microbial Esterase EST112-2 and Its Use in the Preparation of Chiral Tertiary Alcohol (S)-Linalool

Abstract

Chiral tertiary alcohols (TAs) are key building blocks for the synthesis of many crucial flavor compounds and pharmaceuticals. The two enantiomers of tertiary alcohol, linalool, differ in odor. So, sustainable strategies for the manufacture of optically pure TAs represented by linalool, are highly desirable. But the enzymatic synthesis of chiral tertiary alcohols through kinetic resolution was not easily achieved, possibly because of the steric hindrance from the chemical structures of tertiary alcohols. Herein, we identified and functionally characterized a new microbial esterase EST112-2 from the antarctic sediments and utilized esterase EST112-2 as a green biocatalyst in the synthesis of chiral tertiary alcohol (S)-linalool through asymmetric hydrolysis of racemic linalyl acetate. Parameters such as pH, temperature, co-solvents, substrate concentrations, enzyme loading and reaction time were optimized for the kinetic resolutions. Desired chiral product (S)-linalool was finally obtained with an enantiomeric excess of over 66% and a yield of over 72% after process optimization. The enantiomeric excess of (S)-linalool prepared by esterase EST112-2 was much higher than that from previous reports.