Research Progress of Enzyme-catalyzed Synthesis of Sucrose Esters

This article reviews the recent development in the sucrose ester's synthesis catalyzed by enzymes, namely those involving control over the enzyme, the reaction medium and the acyl donor. It was discovered that proteases, lipases and abzymes can be used for the regioselective acylation of sucrose. Enzymatic regioselective synthesis of sucrose ester is com- monly carried out in dimethylformamide(DMF), dimethylsulfoxide(DMSO), pyridine and other solvents which are poisonous. In recent years, the studies on enzyme-catalyzed regioselective synthesis under solvent-free conditions and on processes of the use of less harmful solvents such as mixtures of miscible solvents or tert-butanol have been paid more attention. The activated esters have been used as the acyl donor widely.