Glycerol triacetate as solvent and acyl donor in the production of isoamyl acetate with Candida antarctica lipase B

Abstract

Glycerol triacetate was successfully used as a green solvent and as the acyl donor in the transesterification of isoamyl alcohol to produce isoamyl acetate using free and immobilized Candida antarctica lipase B. Immobilized lipase was more catalytically active than free lipase and could be easily separated from the reaction mixture by filtration. In addition, it was found that increasing either the reaction temperature or the enzyme to substrate ratio increased the conversion of isoamyl alcohol. Using triacetin as the solvent also enabled the separation of product by simple extraction with petroleum ether and catalyst recycling.