Evaluation of the catalytic activity of lipases immobilized on chrysotile for esterification.

In the present work, the ester synthesis in organic media catalyzed by lipases immobilized on chrysotile was studied. Lipases of different sources (Mucor javanicus, Pseudomonas cepacia, Rhizopus oryzae, Aspergillus niger and Candida rugosa) were immobilized on chrysotile, an inexpensive magnesium silicate, and used for esterification of hexanoic, octanoic and lauric acid with methanol, ethanol, 1-butanol and 1-octanol at 25 C in hexane as solvent. The best results were obtained with Mucor javanicus lipase and lauric acid giving yields of 62-97% of ester.