Significantly Improved Equilibrium Yield of Long-Chain Alkyl Glucosides via Reverse Hydrolysis in a Water-Poor System Using Cross-Linked Almond Meal as a Cheap and Robust Biocatalyst

An array of ten β-D-glucopyranosides with varied alkyl chain lengths were enzymatically synthesized. It was found that for longer alkyl chains a lower initial rate and final yield of glucoside was obtained except for methyl glucoside because of the severe toxicity of methanol to the enzyme. From a thermodynamics point of view, the equilibrium constant and Gibbs free energy variation of the glucoside syntheses were systematically investigated. To improve the final yields of the glucosides containing long alkyl chains the equilibrium of the enzymatic glucoside synthesis was altered. The equilibrium yield of decyl β-D-glucoside increased from 1.9% to 6.1% when the water content was reduced from 10% to 5% (v/v) using tert-butanol as a cosolvent and 0.10 mol/L of glucose as a substrate. As for the other longer alkyl chain glucosides, heptyl β-D-glucoside was found to have significant surface activity as well.