Abstract: In a 10 ml co-solvent system of acetone-THF (85/15, volume ratio), the effects of key parameters on the synthesis of 5'-palmitate of 5-fluorouridine (5-FUR) catalyzed by Lipozyme TL IM were investigated. It was revealed that water in the mixture could be removed efficiently by adding molecular sieves, thus significantly improving the yield of the desirable product. The batch enzymatic reaction was successfully scaled up to 200 ml (1 g 5-FUR scale), furnishing a yield of 99%. Moreover, Lipozyme TL IM displayed excellent operational stability in this reaction system. The yield of 97% was obtained after reuse for 10 cycles. Additionally, the volumetric productivity in a packed bed reactor for the synthesis of 5'-O-palmitoyl-5-FUR was 22.4 g/(L·h), which was much higher than that in the batch reactor (0.5 g/(L·h)).

Key words: 5-fluorouridine, 5'-palmitate, immobilized lipase, regioselectivity, palmitoylation, packed bed reactor