Production Of Esters Research Articles

Yeast strains do have an impact on the production of cured cocoa beans, as assessed with Costa Rican Trinitario cocoa fermentation processes and chocolates thereof.

The microbiological and metabolic outcomes of good cocoa fermentation practices can be standardized and influenced through the addition of starter culture mixtures composed of yeast and bacterial strains. The present study performed two spontaneous and 10 starter culture-initiated (SCI) cocoa fermentation processes (CFPs) in Costa Rica with local Trinitario cocoa. The yeast strains Saccharomyces cerevisiae IMDO 050523, Hanseniaspora opuntiae IMDO 020003, and Pichia kudriavzevii IMDO 060005 were used to compose starter culture mixtures in combination with the lactic acid bacterium strain Limosilactobacillus fermentum IMDO 0611222 and the acetic acid bacterium strain Acetobacter pasteurianus IMDO 0506386. The microbial community and metabolite dynamics of the cocoa pulp-bean mass fermentation, the metabolite dynamics of the drying cocoa beans, and the volatile organic compound (VOC) profiles of the chocolate production were assessed. An amplicon sequence variant approach based on full-length 16S rRNA gene sequencing instead of targeting the V4 region led to a highly accurate monitoring of the starter culture strains added, in particular the Liml. fermentum IMDO 0611222 strain. The latter strain always prevailed over the background lactic acid bacteria. A similar approach, based on the internal transcribed spacer (ITS1) region of the fungal rRNA transcribed unit, was used for yeast strain monitoring. The SCI CFPs evolved faster when compared to the spontaneous ones. Moreover, the yeast strains applied did have an impact. The presence of S. cerevisiae IMDO 050523 was necessary for successful fermentation of the cocoa pulp-bean mass, which was characterized by the production of higher alcohols and esters. In contrast, the inoculation of H. opuntiae IMDO 020003 as the sole yeast strain led to underfermentation and a poor VOC profile, mainly due to its low competitiveness. The P. kudriavzevii IMDO 060005 strain tested in the present study did not contribute to a richer VOC profile. Although differences in VOCs could be revealed in the cocoa liquors, no significant effect on the final chocolates could be obtained, mainly due to a great impact of cocoa liquor processing during chocolate-making. Hence, optimization of the starter culture mixture and cocoa liquor processing seem to be of pivotal importance.

Imidazophenothiazine-Based Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence Materials with Ultra-Long-Lived Excited States for Energy Transfer Photocatalysis.

Triplet-triplet energy transfer (EnT) is a powerful activation pathway in photocatalysis that unlocks new organic transformations and improves the sustainability of organic synthesis. Many current examples, however, still rely on platinum-group metal complexes as photosensitizers, with associated high costs and environmental impacts. Photosensitizers that exhibit thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) are attractive fully organic alternatives in EnT photocatalysis. However, TADF photocatalysts incorporating heavy atoms remain rare, despite their utility in inducing efficient spin-orbit-coupling, intersystem-crossing, and consequently a high triplet population. Here, we describe the synthesis of imidazo-phenothiazine (IPTZ), a sulfur-containing heterocycle with a locked planar structure and a shallow LUMO level. This acceptor is used to prepare seven TADF-active photocatalysts with triplet energies up to 63.9 kcal mol-1. We show that sulfur incorporation improves spin-orbit coupling and increases triplet lifetimes up to 3.64 ms, while also allowing for tuning of photophysical properties via oxidation at the sulfur atom. These IPTZ materials are applied as photocatalysts in five seminal EnT reactions: [2 + 2] cycloaddition, the disulfide-ene reaction, and Ni-mediated C-O and C-N cross-coupling to afford etherification, esterification, and amination products, outcompeting the industry-standard TADF photocatalyst 2CzPN in four of the five studied scenarios. Detailed photophysical and theoretical studies are used to understand structure-activity relationships and to demonstrate the key role of the heavy atom effect in the design of TADF materials with superior photocatalytic performance.

Study on the Synthesis of Pine Sterol Esters in Solvent-free Systems Catalyzed by Candida rugosa Lipase Immobilized on Hydrophobic Macroporous Resin.

Pine sterol ester is a kind of novel food source nutrient with great advantages in lowering blood cholesterol levels, inhibiting tumors, preventing prostate enlargement, and regulating immunity. Macroporous resins with large specific surface area, stable structures, and various functional groups (epoxy, amino, and octadecyl groups) have been selected for immobilization of Candida rugosa lipase (CRL) to improve its stability and efficiency in the synthesis of pine sterol esters. A solvent-free strategy using oleic acid (substrate) as an esterification reaction medium is an important alternative for avoiding the use of organic solvents. The immobilization conditions of CRL immobilized on several kinds of commercial macroporous resins were optimized. Fortunately, by adsorption (hydrophobic interaction), a high immobilization efficiency of CRL was obtained using macroporous resins with hydrophobic octadecyl groups with an immobilization efficiency of 86.5%, enzyme loading of 138.5 mg/g and enzyme activity of 34.7 U/g. The results showed that a 95.1% yield could be obtained with a molar ratio of oleic acid to pine sterol of 5:1, an enzyme amount of 6.0 U/g (relative to pine sterol mass) at 50°C for 48 hours. The hydrophobic macroporous resin (ECR8806M) with a large specific surface area and abundant functional groups was used to achieve efficient immobilization of CRL. CRL@ECR8806M is an efficient catalyst for the synthesis of phytosterol esters and has the potential for further large-scale applications. Therefore, this simple, green, and low-cost strategy for lipase immobilization provides new possibilities for the high-efficiency production of pine sterol esters and other food source nutrients. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Development of Enantioselective Lithium-Isothiourea-Boronate-Catalyzed Matteson Homologations.

Our group's discovery of lithium-isothiourea-boronate-catalyzed Matteson homologations is chronicled. Chiral thiourea dual-hydrogen bond donors were initially found to promote enantioselective dichloromethyl boronate rearrangements, albeit with poor reproducibility. Systematic investigations of the fate of the thiourea led to the discovery that lithium-isothiourea-boronate derivatives were being generated in situ as highly enantioselective catalytically active species. The optimal lithium-isothiourea-boronate catalyst displays significant generality in the rearrangement of primary alkyl migrating groups, affording synthetically valuable α-chloro boronic ester products with consistently high enantioselectivities. The catalyst is proposed to act as a structurally rigid chiral framework that precisely positions two lithium cations to enable a dual-lithium-mediated chloride abstraction.

Strategy for lipid extraction and transesterification to enhance Chlorella sorokiniana strain BV 12 feedstock utilization

Efficient production and recovery of fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) from lipid containing feedstock is the key step of biodiesel production. This enhances the utilization of feedstock and improves the final economics of the process. Currently, direct and indirect transesterification strategies are being employed for biodiesel production from microalgae with few reports of tailoring the process to a specific feedstock. In this study, Chlorella sorokiniana strain BV 12 was grown in modified BG-11 medium and biomass was harvested. This was subjected to different physical, chemical and physico-chemical strategies for increasing the transesterification yield. The transesterified lipid was evaluated for various biodiesel properties like iodine value, saponification value, acid value, peroxide value and cetane number. After harvesting, gravimetric lipid yield of 161.7 mg/g and 4117.5 µg/g of FAME were obtained. Extraction of lipid was dependent on the cell disruption technique as it is accumulated intracellularly as droplets. Sonication resulted in maximum FAME production using either dry (4724.2 µg/g) and wet (4835.8 µg/g) biomass which shows that wet biomass is more suitable for processing. Gravimetric results favour the extraction by sonication showing a 63.22% increase in lipid recovery. Testing of different solvents for extraction showed methanol as most favourable for FAME analysis with acidic catalyst like HCl and H2SO4 giving FAME with better ignition value (∼51, Cetane number).

Kaolinite and Illite Based Clay Supporting Nickel: its Synthesis, Characterization, and Catalytic Optimazion in a Lab-Scale Fatty Acid Methyl Ester Production

The increasing world energy needs are not matched by the limited availability of fossil fuels thus the development of clean and sustainable fuels is the right solution. Biodiesel is one of these fuels and can be produced through transesterification reactions of vegetable oils in the presence of a catalyst. Acidic natural clay can be an option because of its large abundance, especially in the Indonesia and is heterogeneous in the solution it catalyzes. In this study, clay samples were obtained from an area in Bukittinggi City, West Sumatra Province, and then combined by wet impregnation with nickel as a catalyst in the transesterification reaction of used cooking oil to produce fatty acid methyl esters. Based on X-Ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, the presence of nickel ions does not affect the diffraction pattern of clay minerals contained in the soil consisting of kaolinite and illite. Measurements with X-Ray fluorescence (XRF) showed that the silicon-aluminum mole ratio also did not show a significant change where before mixing the value was 2.0 and after that it only decreased about 5 % to 1.9. The pore diameter of the catalyst was 3.03 nm known by Surface Area Analyzer (SAA). Several variations have been carried out to optimize the catalytic performance of the nickel supported clay and the best conditions were obtained when the catalyst concentration was 3 wt %, the methanol-oil mole ratio was 6:1, the reaction temperature was 70 °C and the reaction carried out for 3 hours. Under these conditions, the yield of methyl ester produced was 63 %

Ester Production Using the Lipid Composition of Coffee Ground Oil (Coffea arabica): A Theoretical Study of Eversa® Transform 2.0 Lipase as an Enzymatic Biocatalyst

The scientific community recognizes coffee grounds (Coffea arabica) as an important biological residue, which led to using the Eversa® Transform 2.0 lipase as an in silico enzymatic catalyst for coffee grounds’ free fatty acids (FFA). Molecular modeling studies, including molecular docking, were performed, which revealed the structures of the lipase and showed the primary interactions between the ligands and the amino acid residues in the active site of the enzyme. Of the ligands tested, 6,9-methyl octadienoate had the best free energy of −6.1 kcal/mol, while methyl octadecenoate and methyl eicosanoate had energies of −5.7 kcal/mol. Molecular dynamics confirmed the stability of the bonds with low Root Mean Square Deviation (RMSD) values. The MMGBSA study showed that methyl octadecenoate had the best free energy estimate, and CASTp identified key active sites for potential enzyme immobilization in experimental studies. Overall, this study provides efficient and promising results for future experimental investigations, showing a classification of oils present in coffee grounds and their binding affinity with Eversa.

Application of Box-Behnken Design in Production of Monoglyceride with Esterification of Glycerol and Oleic Acid.

Monoglyceride MG has a wide function in the food industry, in particular as a natural emulsifier, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, antioxidant, and antibacterial. Therefore, the production of polyol ester from esterification of acid (OA) and glycerol was investigated. The process optimization was performed using a Box-Behnken design, examining the effects of temperature, molar ratio, and catalyst amount. For predicting the optimal point, a second-order polynomial model was fitted to correlate the relationship between independent variables and response (% MG). The effects of temperature (100, 150, and 200 °C); catalyst amount (4, 10, and 16% w/w); and glycerol/oleic acid ratio (1:1, 1:2, and 1:3) were investigated and found to deeply affect the reaction outcome. At the optimal reaction conditions: 200 °C, 0.2% w/w KSF, and a glycerol/oleic acid ratio (3:1), more than 71.8% monoglycerides with selectivity of 80% were obtained. Confirmation experiments were performed to demonstrate the effectiveness of this approach, and the characterization of monoglycerides was performed using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC).

Intensification and Optimization of FAME Synthesis via Acid-Catalyzed Esterification Using Central Composite Design (CCD).

The acid-catalyzed pre-treatment esterification process is required for low-cost feedstock with high free fatty acids (FFAs) to avoid the saponification that occurs during alkali-catalyzed transesterification for the production of fatty acid alkyl esters (FAAE). Reverse hydrolysis in acid-catalyzed esterification causes a decrease in fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) yield. Therefore, the esterification process must be intensified. This study aims to develop and optimize a low-temperature intensification process to enhance biodiesel yield and reduce energy consumption. Three intensification systems were studied: co-solvent technique, co-solvent coupled with adsorption of water using molecular sieves, and entrainer-based continuous removal of water. The process variables of esterification reaction in co-solvents without the adsorption system were optimized by using central composite design (CCD). The study showed that the co-solvent without the adsorption system was effective in intensifying the FFA conversion (XFFA) at low temperatures, compared to the other two systems, due to the dilution effect at high co-solvent/entrainer amount required for sufficient vapors in the adsorption system. Optimized process variables have achieved 95% XFFA within 75 min at 55 °C, 20 mL/100 g of oil DEE, 9 MR, 3 wt % H2SO4, and 320-350 RPM in a co-solvent without the adsorption system.

Access to Fluorinated Quaternary Stereogenic Centers via Palladium-Catalyzed Asymmetric Allylic C–H Alkylation

AbstractA Pd-catalyzed branch- and enantioselective allylic C–H alkylation reaction has been developed for the rapid assembly of fluorinated quaternary stereogenic centers from allylarenes and prochiral α-fluorinated esters. Using chiral phosphoramidite as ligand and 2,5-diphenylquinone as oxidant, the reaction proceeds smoothly under mild conditions and tolerates a broad scope of substrates, resulting in α-quaternary fluorinated ester products with high levels of yields, enantioselectivities, and regioselectivities.

Improvement of methyl ester and itaconic acid production utilizing biorefinery approach on Scenedesmus sp.

This study aims to utilize the Scenedesmus sp. to produce methyl ester and itaconic acid as a biorefinery approach. The wet biomass was utilized for direct transesterification using potassium carbonate as catalyst. The reaction parameters such as solvent to algae ratio, water addition, catalyst concentration, temperature, and reaction time parameters were optimized. Under optimized conditions (20 ml/g solvent to algae ratio, 40% water addition, 4% catalyst, 60 °C and 60 min), a yield of 93% methyl ester yield was achieved. The obtained methyl ester showed satisfactory fuel properties. The spent biomass after transesterification was further subjected to hydrolysis using H2SO4 combined with ultrasound. The sugar content in the hydrolysate accounted for 92% sugar recovery which was further used for the itaconic acid production using Aspergillus sp. The itaconic acid production was improved by altering the MgSO4 concentration in the medium. Addition of TCA cycle metabolites further enhanced the itaconic acid production. Under optimized conditions (50 g/l sugar, 5 ml inoculum, 0.4 g/l MgSO4, 4 mM citric acid, 37 °C for 7 days with 120 rpm), a maximum itaconic production yield of 0.0692 g/g of Scenedesmus sp. was achieved when 4 mM citric acid was added to the medium which suggested an important role of TCA cycle to supply intermediates for the synthesis of itaconic acid.

Sucrose monolaurate production from lauric acid through a two-stage process

This work represented the first step toward pioneering the use of a two-stage process for sucrose monolaurate (sucrose ester) production from lauric acid with high productivity and selectivity. In the first stage, lauric acid was firstly converted into methyl laurate via esterification, followed by the transesterification of methyl laurate into sucrose ester in the second stage. In this research, the first stage of process was primarily focused and thoroughly evaluated. Methyl laurate was continuously produced via lauric acid and methanol in a mini fixed-bed reactor. Amberlyst 15 was used as a catalyst. The operating variables were thoroughly investigated and optimized. The optimal condition to achieve 98 wt% yield (99% purity) was as follows: temperature of 110 °C, residence time of 5 min, and feed concentration of 94 g/L. High catalytic stability was observed over the time-on-stream of 30 h. This process provided good productivity compared to the other processes. The methyl laurate obtained from the first stage could be used as a raw material for the second stage to produce sucrose ester, which was demonstrated experimentally. The high selectivity of 95% of sucrose monolaurate was obtained. The continuous production of sucrose ester from lauric acid could be achieved.

Lipase-catalyzed Production of Sugar Esters in Pressurized Fluid Media: A Review

Sugar esters (SE) are amphiphilic compounds containing hydrophilic moieties linked to hydrophobic parent structures with environmental-friendly features regarding non-toxicity, odorless, tasteless, and biodegradability as well as functional, emulsifying, stabilizing, dispersant, and detergent functions. The use of lipases as alternative biocatalysts to the alkaline compounds used industrially to produce SEs introduces interesting points to the process regarding energy consumption reduction, high selectivity, purer products production, and minimization of fossil-based solvents utilization. However, the usual organic solvents required in the reaction are harmful to enzymes, affecting their catalytic capacity. Accordingly, supercritical fluids (SCFs) are interesting options for the enzymatic process, especially carbon dioxide, which reaches such conditions under non-severe circumstances. SCFs have characteristics that make them attractive solvents for SEs production, allowing the manipulation of their properties to increase substrate solubility and reduce mass transfer limitations, intensifying process productivity. However, issues concerning with the strict operating conditions required by lipases and costs linked to project and equipments are shortcomings that must be considered. Therefore, this review gathers the main guidelines and opportunities that drive SEs production through enzymatic catalysis under supercritical conditions, as well as the challenges faced by this technology. Furthermore, technical aspects of properties and characteristics that justify the application of these compounds as well as considerations about how the main process parameters should be managed to enhance the substrates’ conversion are also discussed. Future perspectives indicate that the design of cost-effective bioreactors to improve performance as well as protein engineering to enhance lipases’ stability are points to be explored.

Unravelling the hidden power of esterases for biomanufacturing of short-chain esters

Microbial production of esters has recently garnered wide attention, but the current production metrics are low. Evidently, the ester precursors (organic acids and alcohols) can be accumulated at higher titers by microbes like Escherichia coli. Hence, we hypothesized that their ‘direct esterification’ using esterases will be efficient. We engineered esterases from various microorganisms into E. coli, along with overexpression of ethanol and lactate pathway genes. High cell density fermentation exhibited the strains possessing esterase-A (SSL76) and carbohydrate esterase (SSL74) as the potent candidates. Fed-batch fermentation at pH 7 resulted in 80 mg/L of ethyl acetate and 10 mg/L of ethyl lactate accumulation by SSL76. At pH 6, the total ester titer improved by 2.5-fold, with SSL76 producing 225 mg/L of ethyl acetate, and 18.2 mg/L of ethyl lactate, the highest reported titer in E. coli. To our knowledge, this is the first successful demonstration of short-chain ester production by engineering ‘esterases’ in E. coli.

Multifunctional halloysite and hectorite catalysts for effective transformation of biomass to biodiesel

Halloysite surface was modified with tetrabutylammonium iodide, and then the obtained nanomaterial was used as support for ZnO nanoparticles. After characterization, the nanomaterial was used as a catalyst for fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) production. The recyclability of the nanomaterial was also investigated, and the optimization of reaction conditions by the design of experiments approach was performed as well. In addition, the synthesized nanomaterial was tested as a catalyst for FAME production from a series of waste lipids affording biodiesel in moderate to good yields (35–95%), depending on the matrix. To fully exploit the feasibility of clay minerals as catalysts in biodiesel formation, a screening of different clays and clay minerals with different morphologies and compositions, such as sepiolite, palygorskite, bentonite, and hectorite was also performed in the esterification of FFAs (a mixture of 1:1 palmitic and stearic acids). Finally, hectorite, chosen as a model of 2:1 clay minerals, was covalently modified, and tested as a catalyst in the esterification of FFAs.

Engineering a Carboxyl Methyltransferase for the Formation of a Furan-Based Bioplastic Precursor.

FtpM from Aspergillus fumigatus was the first carboxyl methyltransferase reported to catalyse the dimethylation of dicarboxylic acids. Here the creation of mutant R166M that can catalyse the quantitative conversion of bio-derived 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) to its dimethyl ester (FDME), a bioplastics precursor, was reported. Wild type FtpM gave low conversion due to its reduced catalytic efficiency for the second methylation step. An AlphaFold 2 model revealed a highly electropositive active site, due to the presence of 4 arginine residues, postulated to favour the binding of the dicarboxylic acid over the intermediate monoester. The R166M mutation improved both binding and turnover of the monoester to permit near quantitative conversion to the target dimethyl ester product. The mutant also had improved activity for other diacids and a range of monoacids. R166M was incorporated into 2 multienzyme cascades for the synthesis of the bioplastics precursor FDME from bioderived 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) as well as from poly(ethylene furanoate) (PEF) plastic, demonstrating the potential to recycle waste plastic.

Ethyl ester production with immobilized lipase in tin modified SBA‐15: Effect of the support characteristic and reaction conditions

AbstractThis study investigated the use of immobilized lipase in SBA‐15 and pore‐expanded SBA‐15 surface modified with tin, denoted as SnS23B (mean pore size of 21.6 nm) and SnS8B (with mean pore size of 9.6 nm), respectively, to produce ethyl esters. The effects of various reaction parameters, including biocatalyst type, oil (refined and degummed soybean oil), water addition, oil‐to‐ethanol molar ratio, immobilized lipase concentration, agitation speed, reaction temperature, and glycerol addition, were examined. The optimal conditions were found to be the use of SnS23B as the biocatalyst, degummed soybean oil as the substrate, 1% (w/w oil) water, 1:3 oil‐to‐ethanol molar ratio, 5% (w/w oil) immobilized lipase, 800 rpm agitation speed, and 25°C reaction temperature. The presence of glycerol negatively impacted the reaction. Under the optimal conditions, the mass percent of ethyl ester obtained was 98.2% ± 0.16. The immobilized lipase showed stability, as no lipase activity was detected upon removing the biocatalyst from the reaction. However, the biocatalyst lost 50% of its activity after 10 successive reactions, likely due to thermal deactivation and lipase inhibition caused be the adsorption of glycerol and other chemical species. Attenuated total reflectance analysis supported this hypothesis.

Production of ethyl esters using municipal sewage sludge and porous ionic liquid coordinated with Burkholderia lipase

Lipase from Burkholderia species immobilized onto novel mesoporous polymeric ionic liquids (MO(Poly)Cn–BLE) could be utilized as a low–cost biocatalyst for the lipase-catalyzed synthesis of free fatty acid esters from dried municipal sewage sludge. To assess this, this investigation has focused on three main parts of this process: (i) the development of a series of large surface polymer synthesis; (ii) mesoporous polymeric biocatalyst preparation using lipase from Burkholderia sp. immobilization onto MO(Poly)Cn, and supports for this alongside Mesoporous polymer ionic liquid–1–bromooctane–lipase from Burkholderia sp. enzyme (MO(Poly)C18–BLE) were characterized using FT-IR, SEM, XPS, N2, and TGA; (iii) Response surface methodology was used to determine the optimal conditions for ester production from municipal sewage sludge lipids using a central composite design. Four process variables were assessed at three levels; a total of 13 experiments were performed to study the effects of the lipids: ethanol molar ratio, catalyst concentration, reaction time, and temperature on the ester’s yield. A 91.25% ester yield was obtained under optimal conditions: a 1:12 molar ratio of municipal sewage sludge lipid to ethanol, 225 wt% MO(Poly)C18–BLE, 5 h reaction time, 45 ℃ reaction temperature, and a constant 150 rpm agitation. This novel biocatalyst synthesis method and ester production process from municipal sewage sludge lipids may provide ecological and economic support for industrial biodiesel production in the future.

Optimizing the subcritical water valorization of insect (Hermetia illucens l.) farming waste for biodiesel production

To counter the proliferation of secondary waste streams generated on insect (black soldier fly) farms, the present study integrated green water technology and acid-catalyzed transesterification as a basis to assess further value extraction potentials. By valorizing the waste streams, a process was developed to promote the circular economy paradigm. In this regard, wastes generated from a local insect farm were initially subjected to subcritical water extraction (SWE) for lipid recovery. The SWE process was optimized such that an enhanced lipid yield of 13.31 wt% was obtained at temperature, time, and solid loading conditions of 236.8 °C, 10 min of extraction, and 1 g/ 100 mL respectively. The lipids recovered were then subjected to an acid-catalyzed transesterification reaction for the production of a fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) mixture. A preliminary economic assessment of the process was also undertaken. The results showed that the wastes had the potential to be economically employed in the production of biodiesel that satisfied fuel property standards. In addition, the potential of employing the side streams as an animal feed was also highlighted due to the determined dominance of oligopeptides, which are known for their favorable bioactive properties. The results indicated that insect farming waste is a promising renewable source for high-quality biodiesel and animal feed production through the environmentally friendly biorefinery.

Development of an industrial sustainable process for wax esters production: enzyme immobilization, process optimization, and plant simulation

AbstractBACKGROUNDAs a result of the ban on whaling, there has been a shortage of spermaceti, a natural product with applications in cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. A green and sustainable process for the biocatalytic synthesis of a wax ester mixture analogue to natural spermaceti is presented in this paper.RESULTSImmobilization of Candida antarctica lipase B by covalent binding to Purolite® Lifetech™ ECR8285 allowed for an immobilized derivative with 124.5 mg protein/g support (69.3% protein immobilization yield) that maintains 100% of its enzymatic activity after 12 months of cold storage and presents negligible loses of activity after 9 consecutive reaction cycles. The optimization of the synthesis process in a batch reactor resulted in conditions that, at 70 °C, 350 rpm, and 1.25% w/w of biocatalyst, achieved a conversion of 97% after 1 h of reaction. The simulation of a spermaceti production plant was carried out using the process simulation software aspenONE suite v10. The plant was designed for a continuous operation during 9 h per day, with a reactor of 20.25 L of working volume and a residence time of 1 h. The production of this plant would be 173.25 kg spermaceti/day, with a product purity of 99.55%.CONCLUSIONThe main novelty of this work is the design of a spermaceti production plant, using the most sustainable methodologies and resulting in a product with exceptional characteristics and minimal waste generation. Moreover, a new lipase immobilized derivative is also described. The good values of sustainability indicators point to the viability of its industrial implementation. © 2023 The Authors. Journal of Chemical Technology and Biotechnology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry (SCI).