Synthesis of Lutein Esters by Using a Reusable Lipase-Pluronic Conjugate as the Catalyst

An enzymatic route to synthesize lutein esters was investigated using a lipase-Pluronic conjugate as the catalyst. For the synthesis of lutein palmitate, the enzymatic process gave a conversion of 85 % for lutein and a product purity of 96 % at 50 A degrees C within 12 h, whereas the free lipase catalyzed process achieved a conversion below 10 %. To demonstrate the generality of this enzymatic process, lutein laurate, lutein myristate and lutein stearate were also synthesized achieving conversions of 73.8, 88.5, 84.4 % respectively. Moreover, the lipase-Pluronic conjugate can be reused for batches in the synthesis of lutein esters. As demonstrated by this study, the enzyme-Pluronic conjugate holds great promise for practical applications in industrial biocatalysis.