Search

The aim of this work is to devise an efficient enzymatic process for the production of linear alkyl esters in aqueous miniemulsion systems. The esterification reactions of linear alcohols and carboxylic acids were performed with three different enzymes, commercial Amano lipase PS from Pseudomonas cepacia, Lipase type VII from Candida rugosa, and lyophilized Fusarium solani pisi cutinase expressed in Saccharomyces cerevisiae SU50. The miniemulsion system shows a high potential for the synthesis of linear alkyl esters, for example, hexyl octanoate, which could be synthesized with an ester yield of 94% using Amano lipase PS. Even with hydrophilic alcohols as ethanol, ethyl decanoate could be obtained with a concentration of 0.45 M and a yield of 62% using F. s. pisi cutinase as catalyst. High esterification rates for ethyl- and hexyloleate in miniemulsion showed a significant shift in cutinase selectivity towards longer chain length carboxylic acids. The stepwise addition of the alcohol led to an increase of the esterification yield. Moreover, increasing the amount of dispersed organic phase, mainly consisting of the substrates, led to a significant increase of the final ester concentration (e.g., concentration of 1.4 M for ethyl decanoate for the esterification with Amano Lipase PS).

The main objective of this work was studying and testing the nature and influence of reaction media (organic solvent vs. miniemulsion system) on the synthesis of alkyl esters catalyzed by Fusarium solani pisi cutinase. Ester synthesis and cutinase selectivity for different chain length of acids and alcohols (ethyl and hexyl) were evaluated. In iso-octane, after 1 h of reaction, cutinase exhibits rates of esterification between 0.24 micromol x mg(-)1 x min(-1) for ethyl oleate and 1.15 micromol x mg(-)1 x min(-1) for ethyl butyrate, while in a miniemulsion system the rates were from 0.05 for ethyl heptanoate to 0.76 micromol x mg(-1) x min(-1) for ethyl decanoate. The reaction rate for the synthesis of hexyl esters in a miniemulsion system was from 0.19 for hexyl heptanoate to 1.07 micromol x mg(-)1 x min(-1) for hexyl decanoate. High conversion yields of 95% at equilibrium after 8 h of reaction in iso-octane for pentanoic acid (C(5)) with ethanol at equimolar concentration (0.1 M) was achieved. Additionally, this work showed that a significant and unexpected shift in cutinase selectivity occurred towards longer chain length carboxylic acids (C(8)-C(10)) in miniemulsion system as compared to organic solvent (iso-octane) and previous studies in reverse micellar systems. The possibility of working with higher concentration of substrates, without inhibitory effect on the enzyme, was another advantage of the miniemulsion system.

Monoesters of various linear carboxylic acids (C7-C12) with omega-phenyl-labeled primary alcohols (C1-C5) were synthesized in aqueous miniemulsions with various lipases as biocatalysts. The reactants were dispersed in an aqueous solution of a nonionic surfactant to form long-term stable miniemulsions. The esterification of all of the systems could be catalyzed by the applied enzyme and yielded significant conversions of about 90%. The hydrophilicity of the reactants and the specificity of the enzyme toward the substrates determine the reaction velocity and the final conversion. As a model system the reaction of nonanoic acid and 3-phenylpropanol was extensively studied. Among various lipases, Lipase PS was determined to be the most effective, and for this reaction the parameters were optimized. A maximum conversion of 80% could be obtained in less than one hour of reaction time. In comparison with an acid-catalyzed esterification performed in miniemulsion with the same reaction parameters, the enzyme-catalyzed reaction showed a significantly faster conversion. The reactions proved that the application of the miniemulsion technique enables efficient direct enzyme-catalyzed esterification reactions from carboxylic acids and alcohols in the presence of large amounts of water.