RESUMEN
In this work, three deep eutectic mixtures (DESâ 1: choline chloride/urea; DESâ 2: choline chloride/glycerol; and DESâ 3: tetrabutylammonium bromide/imidazole) were investigated as mediums for the synthesis of glucose laurate and glucose acetate. Aiming to achieve a greener and more sustainable approach, the synthesis reactions were catalyzed by lipases from Aspergillus oryzae (LAO), Candida rugosa (LCR), and porcine pancreas (LPP). The hydrolytic activity of lipases against p-nitrophenyl hexanoate revealed no evidence of enzyme inactivation when DES were used as medium. Regarding the transesterification reactions, combining LAO or LCR with DESâ 3 resulted in the efficient production of glucose laurate (from glucose and vinyl laurate) (conversion >60 %). The best result for LPP was observed in DESâ 2, with 98 % of product production after 24â hours of reaction. When replacing vinyl laurate by a smaller hydrophilic substrate, vinyl acetate, a distinct behavior was observed. LCR and LPP performed better in DESâ 1, yielding more than 80 % of glucose acetate after 48â hours of reaction. The catalytic activity of LAO was less pronounced, reaching only nearly 40 % of product in DESâ 3. The results highlight the potential of combining biocatalysis with greener and environmentally-safer solvents, for the synthesis of differentiated chain-length sugar fatty acid esters (SFAE).