Enzymatic synthesis and characterization of novel feruloylated lipids in selected organic media

A facile enzymatic synthesis approach to prepare novel feruloylated lipids through the lipase-catalyzed transesterification reaction of ethyl ferulate (EF) with tributyrin (TB) in toluene was investigated. The nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and electrospray ionization-mass spectroscopy (ESI-MS) analysis confirmed the formation of two major products, 1(3)-feruloyl-monobutyryl-glycerol (FMB) and 1(3)-feruloyl-dibutyryl-glycerol (FDB). The influences of different enzyme source, organic solvent, molar ratio, reaction temperature, agitation speed and water activity on the total conversion of reaction, distribution of FMB and FDB and selectivity of these two novel derivatives of FA were analyzed systematically. Under the optimal conditions, the highest conversion of feruloylated lipids achieved was 73.6%, which was composed of FMB 58.3% and FDB 13.1%, respectively. The enzyme can be reused for 14 runs without evident loss in activity and stability.