Glucose‐ and xylose laurate esters are enzymatically synthesized using equimolar substrate concentrations in 2‐methyl‐2‐butanol, comparing free lauric acid with methyl‐ and vinyl‐laurate as acyl donors. All reactions result in ≥70% acyl donor conversions after 72 h but the activated donors are also partially hydrolyzed to lauric acid, highlighting the difficulty in controlling water presence in this particular reaction system. The esterification of xylose generates a complex product profile, with several regioisomers of monoesters and diesters. The esterification of glucose is quite selective, forming mainly the 6‐O monoester (≥96%) with a small presence of two diester isomers (4%). Increasing substrate concentration up to 800 millimoles kg−1 results in lower conversion values (down to 58%) but shows that the reaction proceeds successfully even in the presence of high amounts of insoluble glucose. However, the reaction is less selective and the proportion of diester increases, becoming up to 46% (molar fraction) of the final product. Solvent recovery after esterification can be achieved by organic solvent nanofiltration through a polymeric membrane able to retain ≥80% of all reaction substrates and products. Practical Applications: The use of high substrate concentrations during the enzymatic synthesis of sugar ester biosurfactants leads to product titers that are more industrially appealing, without the need to find a solvent that can solubilize all initial substrate. The sustainability of the enzymatic conversion at mild temperatures can be enhanced by recycling of the reaction solvent through organic solvent nanofiltration, an energy efficient alternative to other traditional methods like distillation.
Lignin is an abundant and renewable source of phenolic compounds that can be used as natural antioxidants to substitute synthetic, petroleum-based alternatives. The development of lignin depolymerization techniques has improved the accessibility of low-molecular-weight phenolic fractions with enhanced antioxidant activity compared to native lignin. The selective esterification of the aliphatic OH groups in these compounds is necessary in order to increase their compatibility with hydrophobic product matrixes, while preserving their antioxidant capacity. In the present work, lipase was chosen as a selective catalyst for the esterification of the monolignol dihydroconiferyl alcohol (DCA), in order to target the esterification of aliphatic OHs without modifying the aromatic groups. The reaction was studied under solvent-assisted and solvent-free conditions, using different fatty acids and substrate ratios. A product yield of 97% could be obtained after 24 h in a solvent-assisted reaction with 2 molar equivalents of fatty acid, or after 3 h in a solvent-free reaction with 10 molar equivalents of the fatty acid. The esterified monolignol showed relevant long-term radical scavenging activity, comparable to other commercial, petroleum-based antioxidants. Different lignin fractions were also used as substrates for enzymatic esterification with different fatty acids, resulting in esterification degrees of 20–58% (of the total aliphatic OH), depending on the specific combination of fatty acid–lignin fractions.
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