Abstract
Wax esters are long chain esters that are derived from fatty acids and alcohols with chain lengths of 12 carbons or more. Wax esters havea wide range of application in industrial especially in cosmetics. The present work focuses on the synthesis of wax esters by alcoholysisreaction from palm oil and oleyl alcohol in hexane by lipase from Rhizomucor meihei (Lipozyme IM). Effect of various concentrations ofpalm oil and oleyl alcohol were studied to deduce the kinetics and mechanism of the reaction. The alcoholysis reaction followed Michaelis-Menten kinetics. The reaction follows a Ping-pong Bi-Bi mechanism. The maximum rate was estimated to be 6 x 10 -3 mmol/h. mg catalystand the Michaelis-Menten constant for palm oil and oleyl alcohol were 4.145 M and 6.120 M, respectively.
Highlights
Interest in lipase-catalyzed preparation of wax esters has grown in the last decade, because of the ability to obtain a wide variety of high-quality products under mild reaction condition (Mat Radzi et al 2005; George et al 2000)
Kinetic is a study concerning with the rates at which reactions occur and with the factors that affect the rates of a reaction, such as pH, temperature, presence of catalyst, and is essential in an experimental investigation
The study of the kinetics of Lipozyme IM catalyzed synthesis of esters from the reaction of oleyl alcohol and palm oil was best achieved by measuring the initial rate in the presence of different concentrations of substrate
Summary
Interest in lipase-catalyzed preparation of wax esters has grown in the last decade, because of the ability to obtain a wide variety of high-quality products under mild reaction condition (Mat Radzi et al 2005; George et al 2000). The synthetic wax esters can be synthesized using chemicals and enzymatic catalyzed methods (Gunawan & Suhendra 2008a, 2008b). The use of homogeneous chemical catalysts leads to several problems such as corrosion of equipment, hazards of handling of the corrosive acids, highenergy consumption and degradation of esters, (Knox & Clife 1984), whereas the enzymatic synthesis offers mild reaction conditions and environmentally friendly process. We have optimized the lipase-catalyzed alcoholysis of palm-based wax ester and oleyl alcohol (Gunawan & Suhendra 2008a, 2008b). The kinetics of the alcoholysis of palm oil and oleyl alcohol in hexane, catalyzed by lipozime IM was examined. This study is for understanding the reaction mechanism, as well as for design of alcoholysis reactor for scale-up
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