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Biosurfactant products

The project concerns enzymatic synthesis of sugar based surfactants. During 2006 the work has focused on synthesis of alkyl glycosides using various types of glycosyl hydrolases in reversed hydrolysis or transglycosylation reactions. Reversed hydrolysis reactions between glucose and alcohols (hexanol and octanol) was catalysed efficiently by β-glucosidase B from Thermotoga neapolitana. The maximal product concentration decreased with increasing length of the alcohol. A system with in situ product recovery by adsorption was evaluated and suitable conditions for product adsorption and desorption were found. A schematic presentation of a process based on this concept is shown below:



Supervisor: Patrick Adlercreutz
Researchers: Mathias Nordblad, David Svensson and Fabian Rundbäck

 
Another group of environmentally friendly surfactants with a broad range of applications are alkanolamides. During 2006 a solvent free enzymatic process for alkanolamide production was developed with the intention to provide a more gentile alternative to the chemical processes currently used by the surfactant industries. Lipase B from Candida antarctica (Novozym 435) proved to be most efficient enzyme for producing alkanolamides, by catalyzing the condensation of fatty acid and alkanolamine. Step wise dosage of the amine proved to be essential for the process. Under optimized conditions a yield of 95% was obtained within four hours using 5 % enzyme loading. The product was equivalent to the highest quality products currently available.
 

Supervisors: Dietlind Adlercreutz, Rajni Hatti-Kaul
Researchers: Pär Tufvesson