Vinyl functionalized silica hybrid monolith-based trypsin microreactor for on line digestion and separation via thiol-ene “click” strategy

A novel thiol-ene “click” strategy for the preparation of monolithic trypsin microreactor was proposed. The hybrid organic–inorganic monolithic capillary column with ene-functionality was fabricated by sol–gel process using tetramethoxysilane (TMOS) and γ-methacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane (γ-MAPS) as precursors. The disulfide bonds of trypsin were reduced to form free thiol groups. Then the trypsin containing free thiol groups was attached on the γ-MAPS hybrid monolithic column with ene-functionality via thiol-ene click chemistry to form a trypsin microreactor. The activity of the trypsin microreactor was characterized by detecting the substrate (Nα-p-tosyl-l-arginine methyl ester hydrochloride, TAME) and the product (Nα-p-tosyl-l-arginine, TA) with on-line capillary zone electrophoresis. After investigating various synthesizing conditions, it was found that the microreactor with poly(N,N′-methylenebisacrylamide) as spacer can deliver the highest activity, yielding a rapid reaction rate. After repeatedly sampling and analyzing for 100 times, the monolithic trypsin microreactor still remained 87.5% of its initial activity. It was demonstrated that thiol-ene “click” strategy for the construction of enzyme microreactor is a promising method for the highly selective immobilization of proteins under mild conditions, especially enzymes with free thiol radicals.

► Vinyl silica hybrid monolith was fabricated.
► Monolithic based microreactor was prepared via thiol-ene “click” strategy.
► Poly(N,N′-methylenebisacrylamide) as spacer can deliver the highest activity.
► Thiol-ene “click” strategy is a promising method for the immobilization of proteins with free thiol radicals under mild conditions.