Abstract
With the ever-increasing demand for clean technology in the industrial sector, natural methods, such as enzyme-catalyzed, represent a sustainable alternative to industrial chemical processes. In this context, the synthesis of benzyl benzoate ester using commercial immobilized lipases was evaluated. For this, a kinetic study was carried out to determine the reaction time (24 h) and enzyme concentration (10 wt%). Then, a 22 full factorial design was proposed to evaluate the effect of molar ratio (benzyl alcohol to benzoic anhydride) and temperature on conversion of benzyl benzoate in the presence of tert-butanol as solvent. For the Novozym® 435, maximum conversion (32%) was achieved at 60 ºC, using a molar ratio of 1:5 (alcohol to anhydride). A maximum conversion of 51% was obtained for Lipozyme® RM IM at 40 ºC and the molar ratio of 1:5. The benzyl benzoate showed moderate antimicrobial action against S. aureus (MIC = 0.05 mg μL-1). With the results, the conclusion was that the methodology of design of experiments was adequate for the proposed system and allowed the optimization of the production of benzyl benzoate.
Highlights
The biotechnological processes have clear environmental advantages compared to inorganic acids generally used as catalysts in chemical synthesis
The use of enzymes, which can be reused in biotechnological processes, reduces waste production [8,9]
These processes have proven to be a competitive alternative to chemical methods due to their high catalytic efficiency, moderate operating conditions, and the selectivity of natural catalysts [10,11], which guarantee higher yields close to room temperature
Summary
There has been a tendency for consumers to prefer foods, ingredients, and additives labeled as natural as an important attribute when choosing the product, leading them to spend billions of dollars on them [1-4]. The biotechnological processes have clear environmental advantages compared to inorganic acids generally used as catalysts in chemical synthesis In this way, the use of enzymes, which can be reused in biotechnological processes, reduces waste production [8,9]. The use of enzymes, which can be reused in biotechnological processes, reduces waste production [8,9] These processes have proven to be a competitive alternative to chemical methods due to their high catalytic efficiency, moderate operating conditions, and the selectivity of natural catalysts [10,11], which guarantee higher yields close to room temperature. These characteristics result in quality products, energy savings, and the absence or reduction in the incidence of by-products
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