Study of mass transfer performance of naproxen acid and ester through a multiphase enzyme-loaded membrane system

The aim of this work was to identify the transport properties of phase-transfer reaction components through amultiphaseenzyme-loadedmembranesystem. The multiphasesystem is of interest for the preparation of a two-separate phase enzymemembrane reactor (TSP-EMR) applied for the enantioselective conversion of racemic ester of naproxen into the corresponding S-naproxenacid. In this work, the transport properties of the system have been measured in absence of biochemical reaction. Therefore, the overall masstransfer coefficients of reactant (naproxenester) and product (S-naproxenacid) through the two-separate phase membranesystem have been measured using deactivated enzyme-loadedmembrane. The multiphasesystem of interest is composed of an organic and an aqueous phase separated by a polymeric membrane containing the immobilized enzyme. The enzyme was immobilized alone or in presence of oil/water emulsion, in order to either improve enzyme distribution at the o/w interface than transport of reaction components through the membrane. The masstransfer rate through the membrane as a function of axial velocity was evaluated. The transport performance through the membrane itself, the membraneloaded with enzyme, and the membraneloaded with enzyme in presence of emulsion was studied.