A chemoenzymatic method for the production of epoxidized vegetable oils was developed. The unique combination of the commercial lipase G from Penicillieum camembertii with certain deep eutectic solvents enabled the efficient production of epoxidized vegetable oils.

Epoxides are important synthetic intermediates for the synthesis of a broad range of industrial products. This study presents a promising solution to the current limitation of enzyme instability. By using simple deep eutectic solvents such as choline chloride/sorbitol, significant stabilization of the biocatalyst has been achieved leading to more robust reactions while using environmentally more acceptable solvents as compared to ionic liquids.

Deep eutectic solvents act as surfactants in biphasic (hydrophobic/aqueous) reaction mixtures enabling higher interfacial surface areas at lower mechanical stress as compared to simple emulsions. Exploiting this effect the rate of a chemoenzymatic epoxidation reaction was increased more than six-fold.