Effect of molecular sieves on lipase-catalyzed esterification of rutin with stearic acid

Rutin was acylated with stearic acid in the esterification reaction catalyzed by immobilized Candida antarctica lipase B (Novozym 435) in tert-amyl alcohol with and without molecular sieves. The lipophilic rutin stearate was synthesized by this method, which had a potential use in food, cosmetics, and pharmacy. The structure of rutin stearate was characterized by spectral methods of 1H NMR and 13C NMR, Fourier transform infrared, and UV-vis. The results suggested that the regioselectivity of the lipase-catalyzed esterification of rutin was specific at the C(4''')-position of the rhamnose moiety. It was found that the addition of molecular sieves increased both the reaction rate and the yield. The time effect of adding molecular sieves in the reaction system on the conversion of rutin stearate was further examined. Instead of adding molecular sieves at the beginning of the reaction, the addition of molecular sieves at 5, 18, 24, 31, and 44 h after the beginning of the reaction was also applied. The final conversion for the case to add molecular sieves at 24 h after the beginning of reaction was the highest, with the conversion yield about 46%.