Novozym® 435 and Lipozyme® RM IM as Biocatalysts for Benzyl Benzoate Synthesis

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.