Glymes as new solvents for lipase activation and biodiesel preparation

Glymes (i.e. glycol diethers) were explored as alternative benign solvents for enzymatic reactions, specifically the lipase-catalyzed transesterification. Long-chain glymes were found highly compatible with immobilized Candida antarctica lipase B (iCALB), leading to higher enzyme activities and stabilities than t-butanol and ionic liquids (e.g. the rate of transesterification in diethylene glycol dibutyl ether (G2-Bu) was 77% higher than that in t-butanol). Furthermore, soybean oil was found fully miscible with glymes, which enabled a homogeneous reaction mixture for the enzymatic preparation of biodiesel. In the presence of glymes, CALB showed a very high tolerance to high methanol concentrations (up to 60-70% v/v), and nearly stoichiometric triglyceride conversions could be obtained under mild reaction conditions. A laboratory scale-up achieved a high conversion of soybean oil (95.5%). This study suggests that glymes can be environmentally friendly and inexpensive solvents for lipase-catalyzed reactions, such as the enzymatic preparation of biodiesel.