Kinetic modelling of esterification reactions catalysed by immobilized lipases

The kinetics of the synthesis of several esters of different chain length and physical properties was studied. A commercial Candida antarctica lipase was used as catalyst for the synthesis of oleyl oleate, isopropyl oleate, isopropyl palmitate, myristyl myristate, cetyl oleate, and oleyl 2-methylbutyrate. A general kinetic model was derived and tested experimentally for the synthesis of the above esters. The general kinetic model took a different shape for each particular esterification reaction, depending on the significance of the different terms. The corresponding parameters were calculated by non-linear regression. The kinetic models were found to describe the experimental values adequately.