Improving Productivity and Enzyme Stability Through Process Design: Lipase-catalysed Synthesis of Epoxides and Esters

• Main Author: Hagström, Anna
• Format: Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: Department of Chemistry, Lund University 2010
• Subjects: Industrial Biotechnology; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/1599270

Interest in sustainable development has increased throughout society during the past decades, and the chemical industry is no exception. The appeal for renewable raw materials has consequently increased and has paved the way for the implementation of industrial biotechnology. Since enzymes are used to convert biomass in nature, they may also be a good choice in the chemical industry. However, to identify if the use of enzymes is the best alternative for a particular application they must be evaluated. Investigations can be carried out on the enzyme itself, the reaction, the reactor design or the complete process. Analyses of the environmental impact and the economics of the process are also important. The focus of the interdisciplinary research programme Greenchem at Lund University is to develop speciality chemicals from renewable raw materials using enzymes as catalysts. The work presented in this thesis was focused on the reactor and the process, rather than the catalyst itself, or a specific reaction, as those have been covered in other projects within Greenchem. Lipases are among the most extensively studied enzymes. Candida antarctica lipase B (CalB), which can be used to catalyse several different reactions, is one example. This enzyme was most frequently used in the work described in this thesis, usually in an immobilised preparation, Novozym® 435 (N435). In the initial study presented in this thesis, four wax esters were produced and tested regarding their applicability as wood coatings. Unfortunately, even the best of these waxes showed too low resistance to grease stains. Towards the end of this work a new study was initiated; acrylation of polymers to be used as the main component in lacquers, with the hope of achieving better resistance than that achieved with the wax esters. These acrylates were produced on litre-scale via lipase-catalysed trans-esterification between ethyl acrylate and polyesters and polyethers, respectively, and were found to be comparable to the commercial alternatives available ...