Synthesis of eugenyl acetate through heterogeneous catalysis

ABSTRACT

This work aimed the production of eugenyl acetate through heterogeneous chemical catalysis of eugenol and acetic anhydride as substrates by commercial Lewatit ® GF 101 resin as catalyst. From the experimental design, the highest reaction conversion (94.85%) was obtained after 10 min of reaction time (1:1 substrates molar ratio, 1 wt% of catalyst content at 70°C), and up to 45 min a complete conversion was reached. The catalyst reuse was investigated, and after 10 reuse cycles, no loss of catalytic activity was observed. Antimicrobial activity of eugenyl acetate against Gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 9763, and Listeria monocytogenes ATCC 15117) and Gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli ATCC 25922 and Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27853) showed higher inhibition zone against to L. monocytogenes (42 mm). Besides, the eugenyl acetate antibacterial effect was also demonstrated by the minimum inhibitory concentration, and P. aeruginosa had higher inhibition (41.77 mm) at lower eugenyl acetate concentration (2500 μg.mL⁻¹).

KEYWORDS:

• Eugenyl acetate
• esterification
• antibacterial effect
• heterogeneous catalysis

Acknowledgments

The authors thank CNPq and Capes for the financial support and scholarships.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.