Adverse effect of chloride impurities on lipase-catalyzed transesterifications in ionic liquids

The adverse influence of chloride impurities on the lipase-catalyzed transesterification in ionic liquid is described. The activity of lipase from Rhizomucor miehei exponentially decreased with increasing Cl⁻ content in 1-octyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethyl)sulfonyl] amide, Omim]Tf₂N], and the activity of lipase in Omim]Tf₂N] mixture containing 2% Omim] Cl] was only about 2% of the activity in pure Omim]Tf₂N]. The activity of lipase from Candidantarctica linearly decreased at about 5% with every 1% increase in Omim]Cl] with there being no activity in Omim]Tf₂N] containing about 20% Omim]Cl].