Synthesis of wax ester using lipase as catalyst

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Wax esters are long chain esters that derived from long chain fatty acids and long chain alcohols with chain lengths of 12 carbons or more. The compounds have many potential applications. The present work focuses on the synthesis of wax ester by esterification of palmitic acid and oleyl alcohol using Novozyme lipase. The effects of various reaction parameters such as reaction time, temperature and amount of lipase were investigated. The optimum condition to produce oleyl palmitate ester were respectively, incubation time, 1h – 2h, temperature 40°C - 50°C and amount of enzyme of 100 mg. Analysis of the yield of the product at optimum condition showed that 80% of wax ester produced.

Esterification; lipase; wax ester; catalyst