Enzymatic synthesis of phenethyl ester from phenethyl alcohol with acyl donors

•Phenethyl acetate (PA) was synthesized over 99.12% by Novozym 435.•This is the first study to synthesize PA with acetic anhydride as an acyl donor.•After 20 reuses of the enzyme, the conversion of PA was 97.62%.

Phenethyl ester is an important contributors to food, drinks, cosmetics and perfumery. Phenethyl acetate was synthesized enzymatically from phenethyl alcohol with acyl donors catalyzed by Novozym 435 from Candida antarctica lipase B. Through acyl donor screening, acetic anhydride and vinyl acetate were found to be the optimal acyl donors for the reaction. The effects of the molar ratio, temperature and solvents were investigated. The maximum conversion of phenethyl acetate were 99.12%, and 98.44%, using acetic anhydride and vinyl acetate as the acyl donors, respectively. After 20 reuses, the respective conversion of phenethyl acetate were 97.62% and 96.52%. This study may contribute to environment-friendly synthesis of phenethyl ester based on optimal conditions, and enzyme reusability for high conversion of phenethyl acetate.

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