Production of Ethyl Butyrate by Candida rugosa Lipase Immobilized in Polyurethane

The enzymatic production of ethyl butyrate was studied: the lipase of Candida rugosa (E.C. 3.1.1.3.) was immobilized in a polyurethane matrix and subsequently introduced in an organic medium containing the substrates in appropriate concentrations. The large majority of experiments was carried out in n-hexane. Two further solvents were tested, namely n-heptane and n-dodecane. The partition coefficients matrix/solvent were estimated for the various solvent systems. The initial esterification rate, the molar yield ester/acid and the degree of conversion were found to be solvent independent when the reaction media were designed so that similar concentrations were created in the microenvironment. Initial rate experiments indicated that in n-hexane the threshold of inhibitory substrate concentrations lies (i) between 0.40 M and 0.50 M for butyric acid, according to the purity of the enzyme preparation and (ii) at 0.30 M for ethanol. Batch operational stability tests indicate that no enzyme deactivation occurs after 20 consecutive batches.