Non-enzymatic synthesis route for production of isoamyl acetate in a solvent-free system using miniaturized intensified reactor

Abstract

Investigation on the performance of isoamyl acetate production using non-enzymatic esterification method in an intensified reactor was done in this study. Isoamyl acetate is widely being used as a food flavoring in foodstuff production as it has banana and pear like fragrance. Traditional and commercial chemical synthesis route is costly and required additional step for separation of solvents and catalyst used. Process intensification technology offers substantiated reduction of cost with improved efficiency and reduce time to market, this study uses miniaturized intensified reactor (MIR) as a new reactor to produce isoamyl acetate, and the effect of the operating parameter such as reaction temperature, reactants flow rate and acid-alcohol ratio towards concentration of isoamyl acetate produced were studied using One-Factor-At-A-Time (OFAT) method. Comparison of non-enzymatic and enzymatic esterification using enzyme Candida Antarctica Lipase B (CALB) in miniaturized intensified reactors were done to prove the hypothesis that intensified system could enhance the reaction process. Based on the outcomes of this study, it was substantiated that the described intensified system could enhance the esterification process in non-enzymatic reaction, at flow rate 40 μL min−1, acid-alcohol ratio of 0.6 and reaction temperature 50 °C.