Selective oxidation of indole by chloroperoxidase immobilized on the mesoporous molecular sieve SBA-15

The selective oxidation of hydrocarbons is an important value-enhancing chemical transformation in particular with respect to fine chemicals and pharmaceuticals production. Enzymatic oxidations operate under mild reaction conditions and produce little if any waste. However, its industrial use is still limited mainly due to their high cost and the low space time yields. In the present work, chloroperoxiase from Calariomyces fumago immobilized on the mesoporous molecular sieve SBA-15 was applied for the oxidation of indole to 2-oxoindole using hydrogen peroxide or tert.-butyl hydroperoxide as oxidants. The performance of the immobilized enzyme was found to be superior to native chloroperoxidase with respect to maximum conversion and pH range applicable. However, immobilized CPO is still sensitive to high concentrations of hydrogen peroxide. The use of tert.-buty hydroperoxide is found to avoid this problem, but the reaction rate is significantly reduced.