Use of ionic liquids for biocatalytic synthesis of sugar derivatives

in Journal of Chemical Technology & Biotechnology (2012), 87(4), 451-471

Sugar-based compounds are widely used in pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, detergents and food. They are mainly produced by chemical methods, but the use of enzymes as ‘a greener alternative’ to organic ... [more ▼]

Sugar-based compounds are widely used in pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, detergents and food. They are mainly produced by chemical methods, but the use of enzymes as ‘a greener alternative’ to organic synthesis has been investigated for more than 20 years. Due to the low polar substrate solubility in organic solvents compatible with enzymes, research has focused on the application of substitutes for biocatalysis, especially ionic liquids (ILs). After introducing the main properties of ILs and especially their ability to solubilize sugars, this review focuses on one of their applications, the biocatalytic synthesis of carbohydrate derivatives. In this context, they can be used in pure IL systems, in IL/IL systems or in IL/organic solvent systems. Finally, this review provides an update on the environmental fate of ILs. Their exploitation in ‘green’ processes is still limited due to their low degradability but research is currently under way to design new more ‘eco-friendly’ ILs. [less ▲]

Lipase-catalyzed synthesis of fatty acid sugar esters in pure ionic liquids and optimization by response surface methodology

Poster (2012, February 10)

Lipase synthesis of fatty acid sugar esters in pure ionic liquids

Poster (2010, October 14)

Sugar fatty acid esters are broadly consumed in many commercial applications and their synthesis gained a considerable interest since they are biodegradable, tasteless, odorless, non-toxic and non ... [more ▼]

Sugar fatty acid esters are broadly consumed in many commercial applications and their synthesis gained a considerable interest since they are biodegradable, tasteless, odorless, non-toxic and non-irritant. Ionic liquids are organic salts entirely comprised of ions with a melting point below 100°C. This new category of solvent may allow the enzymatic synthesis of sugar fatty acid ester to go toward a “greener” process. Within the purpose of using “green” systems for synthesis of glycosylated compounds, studies on the use of ionic liquids to obtain fatty acid sugar esters with carbohydrates coming from lignocellulosic material as substrates was carried out. The enzymatic synthesis of mannose myristate ionic liquids as enzymatic medium and the yield obtained will be presented in our poster. [less ▲]