Lipase-Catalyzed Synthesis of α-Tocopheryl Ferulate

Abstract

α-Tocopheryl ferulate (α-TF) can be used as an antioxidant in both lipid containing food and cosmetics. The ability of lipases to catalyze the transesterification between α-tocopherol and ethyl ferulate (EF) was investigated. Only the lipase B from Candida antarctica and the lipase from Candida rugosa catalyzed the transesterification. The influences of reaction condition on the yield of α-TF were investigated. A yield of 25.2% of α-TF was obtained using 5:1 mole ratio of α-tocopherol to EF in solvent-free medium at 72h. The yield of α-TF was further enhanced by applying vacuum-rotary evaporation procedure to remove the co-product ethanol.

Keywords:

• α-tocopheryl ferulate
• lipase
• transesterification
• solvent-free medium
• vacuum-rotary evaporation

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

The authors thank the National Natural Science Foundation of China (20873034), the Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University (NCET–05–0356) for support.