Lipase-Mediated Synthesis of Fatty Acid Esters Using a Blending Alcohol Consisting of Methanol and 1-Butanol

Lipase-mediated transesterification of soybean oil with a blending alcohol consisting of methanol and 1-butanol for synthesis of fatty acid esters was carried out. Lipase from Thermomyces lanuginosa (Lipozyme TL IM) was used as a biocatalyst. The lipase was purchased from Novozymes (Seoul, Republic of Korea). The effects of the molar proportions of methanol and 1-butanol in the blending alcohol, reaction temperature, enzyme loading and water content were investigated, for reaction optimization. The relative consuming rates of methanol and 1-butanol during the reaction were also explored. Among seven different ratios of alcohol blends employed in this study, that containing 80 mol% methanol gave the highest yield of fatty acid esters. Optimum reaction temperature, enzyme loading, and water content were 30 °C, 15% (based on the substrate weight), and 0.3% (based on the substrate weight), respectively. Water influenced significantly the reaction rate and yield. On the transesterification, the degree of reaction of methanol was higher than that of 1-butanol and the presence of 1-butanol contributed to increase of the reaction rate as well as yield. The maximum yield of ca. 98 wt% was achieved under the optimized condition.