Lipase‐Mediated Synthesis of Fatty Acid Esters Using a Blending Alcohol Consisting of Methanol and 1‐Butanol

Abstract Lipase‐mediated transesterification of soybean oil with a blending alcohol consisting of methanol and 1‐butanol for synthesis of fatty acid esters was carried out. Lipase from Thermomyces lanuginosa (Lipozyme TL IM) was used as a biocatalyst. The lipase was purchased from Novozymes (Seoul, Republic of Korea). The effects of the molar proportions of methanol and 1‐butanol in the blending alcohol, reaction temperature, enzyme loading and water content were investigated, for reaction optimization. The relative consuming rates of methanol and 1‐butanol during the reaction were also explored. Among seven different ratios of alcohol blends employed in this study, that containing 80 mol% methanol gave the highest yield of fatty acid esters. Optimum reaction temperature, enzyme loading, and water content were 30 °C, 15% (based on the substrate weight), and 0.3% (based on the substrate weight), respectively. Water influenced significantly the reaction rate and yield. On the transesterification, the degree of reaction of methanol was higher than that of 1‐butanol and the presence of 1‐butanol contributed to increase of the reaction rate as well as yield. The maximum yield of ca. 98 wt% was achieved under the optimized condition.