Design of new chromogenic substrates for the spectrophotometric assay of lipolytic activity of lipases

The lipolytic activity of lipases from porcine pancreas (PPL) and Pseudomonas cepacia (PCL) on synthetic dialkylglycerol fatty acyl esters was evaluated by titrimetric method and the observed chain length selectivity constituted the basis for the design of new chromogenic substrates [1,2-di-O-butyl-sn-glycerol-3-(4-nitrophenyl)carbonate and 1,2-di-O-octyl-sn-glycerol-3-(4-nitrophenyl)glutarate] that were shown to be specific for spectrophotometric assay of PPL and PCL activity, respectively.