D-Xylose and L-arabinose laurate esters: Enzymatic synthesis, characterization and physico-chemical properties

• Published in: Enzyme and Microbial Technology
• Main Authors: Méline, Thomas, Muzard, Murielle, Deleu, Magali, Rakotoarivonina, Harivony, Plantier-Royon, Richard, Rémond, Caroline
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier 2018
• Subjects: D-xylose laurate esters; L-arabinose laurate esters; lipase; surfactants; biorefiniery; Life sciences; Biotechnology; Sciences du vivant; Biotechnologie; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/219778; https://orbi.uliege.be/bitstream/2268/219778/1/2018_Meline%20et%20al_Enz%20Microb%20Techno.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enzmictec.2018.01.008

peer reviewed Efficient enzymatic synthesis of D-xylose and L-arabinose lauryl mono- and diesters has been achieved by transesterification reactions catalysed by immobilized Candida antarctica lipase B as biocatalyst, in organic medium in the presence of D-xylose or L-arabinose and vinyllaurate at 50°C. In case of L-arabinose, one monoester and one diester were obtained in a 57% overall yield. A more complex mixture was produced for Dxylose as two monoesters and two diesters were synthesized in a 74.9% global yield. The structures of all these pentose laurate esters was solved. Results demonstrated that the esterification first occurred regioselectively onto the primary hydroxyl groups. Pentose laurate esters exhibited interesting features such as low critical aggregation concentrations values all inferior to 25μM. Our study demonstrates that the enzymatic production of L-arabinose and D-xylose-based esters represents an interesting approach for the production of green surfactants from lignocellulosic biomass-derived pentoses.