Flow-Synthesis of Nucleosides Catalyzed by an Immobilized Purine Nucleoside Phosphorylase from Aeromonas hydrophila: Integrated Systems of Reaction Control and Product Purification

A purine nucleoside phosphorylase from Aeromonas hydrophyla (AhPNP) was covalently immobilized in a pre-packed stainless steel column containing aminopropylsilica particles via Schiff base chemistry upon glutaraldehyde activation. The resulting AhPNP-IMER (Immobilized Enzyme Reactor, immobilization yield ≈50%) was coupled on-line through a 6-way switching valve to an HPLC apparatus containing an analytical or a semi-preparative chromatographic column. The synthesis of five 6-modified purine ribonucleosides was carried out by continuously pumping the reaction mixture through the AhPNP-IMER until the highest conversion was reached, and then directing the reaction mixture to chromatographic separation. The conditions of the AhPNP-catalyzed transglycosylations (2:1 ratio sugar donor:base acceptor; 10 mM phosphate buffer; pH 7.5; temperature 37 °C, flow rate 0.5 mL min−1) were optimized by a fractional factorial experimental design. Coupling the bioconversion step with the product purification in such an integrated platform resulted in a fast and efficient synthetic process (yield=52–89%; <10 mg) where sample handling was minimized. To date, AhPNP-IMER has retained completely its activity upon 50 reactions in 10 months.