Effect of Salt Hydrate Pair on Lipase-catalyzed Regioselective Monoacylation of Sucrose

Abstract

Sucrose monoesters of a fatty acid were synthesized by using lipase in a solvent-free system. When lipase from Mucor miehei was used as a catalyst with capric acid as the donor and sugar as the acceptor, sucrose 6-monocaprate was predominantly produced in a yield of 25.3%. The yield of product was significantly increased by the direct addition of a suitable pair of solid salt hydrates to the reaction mixture to control the water activity (a,). Among the salt hydrate pairs investigated, the barium hydroxide, 8/1H(2)O pair resulted in the highest yield of the product. This salt addition method was also successfully employed for acylation of primary hydroxyl groups in various unprotected mono-and disaccharides such as glucose, galactose, fructose, trehalose, mannose, maltose, and lactose. (C) 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.