Ida Nurhazwani Abdul Rahman, Roswanira Abdul Wahab, Naji Arafat Mahat, Joazaizulfazli Jamalis, Mohamad Afiq Mohamed Huri, Cepi Kurniawan
To overcome the drawbacks and high costs of the synthetic route to produce pentyl valerate (PeVa), i.e., a fuel additive, the biotechnological route of utilizing Rhizomucor miehei lipase conjugated to magnetite carrier support (RML-CS/CH/MNPs) is proposed. The magnetized RML-CS/CH/MNPs were developed for enabling high yield production of PeVa at relatively short reaction time (< 3 h), while facilitating easy removal of excess RML-CS/CH/MNPs. Efficacy of the developed RML-CS/CH/MNPs biocatalyst was assessed for relevant esterification factors, viz. time, enzyme loading, temperature, substrate molar ratio and stirring speed. The highest yield of PeVa (96%) was reached under an optimized condition (50∘C, using valeric acid/pentanol molar ratio of 1:2, with a lipase loading of 1.5 mg/mL, incubation time of 3 h), thus indicating the RML was catalyzing at its fullest potential due to improved activity and stability after immobilization onto CS/CH/MNPs. RML-CS/CH/MNPs retained a 90% activity after 40 days of storage and leached an initial 3.5% of the lipase likely due to insufficient rinsing during preparation. Since the RML-CS/CH/MNPs was prepared without the use of acids, it appears to be a greener catalyst for the esterification production of PeVa and presumably for other types of commercially important esters, too. © 2019, King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals.
Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Johor Bahru, 81310 UTM, Malaysia; Enzyme Technology and Green Synthesis Group, Faculty of Science, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Johor Bahru, 81310 UTM, Malaysia; Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Universitas Negeri Semarang, Semarang, 50229, Indonesia
