Solvent-free enzymatic synthesis of fatty alkanolamides

✍ Scribed by Pär Tufvesson; Annika Annerling; Rajni Hatti-Kaul; Dietlind Adlercreutz

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2007
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 151 KB
• Volume: 97
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0006-3592
• DOI: 10.1002/bit.21258

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

An environmentally benign and volume efficient process for enzymatic production of alkanolamides is described. Immobilized Candida antarctica lipase B, Novozym®435, was used to catalyze the condensation of lauric acid with monoethanolamine. The reaction temperature of 90°C was required to keep the reactants in a liquid state. Stepwise addition of the amine minimized problems caused by the formation of a highly viscous amine/fatty acid ion‐pair. The enzyme was both very active and stable under the reaction conditions, with about half of the activity remaining after 2 weeks. The maximum amide yield obtained when using equimolar amounts of the reactants was 75%, which could be increased to 95% upon water removal. Special precautions to avoid co‐distillation of the amine were required. Two different strategies to avoid the amine loss are presented. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2007;97: 447–453. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.