Microwave-Assisted Facile and Rapid Esterification of Amino Acids I: Esterification of L-Leucine from Batch to Flow Processes and Scale-Up

Abstract

We herein report our studies into the effects of microwave irradiation on the solvent-free esterification of L-leucine with alcohols. In the absence of solvent, microwave irradiation accelerated the reaction compared to conventional oil bath heating. Measurement of the dielectric properties under the reaction conditions revealed that the high dielectric loss factor of the reaction mixture containing L-leucine, n-butanol, and a p-toluene sulfonic acid catalyst could be attributed to the acceleration of the reaction. The depth of microwave penetration into the reaction mixture as derived from the in-situ measurement of the dielectric properties was ~13 mm, which suggested that a thinner reaction vessel was favorable for the esterification of L-leucine. In addition to the batch reaction using a desktop microwave reactor, two types of flow reaction were also performed using a desktop tubular reactor and a semi-bench-scale tubular reactor. These flow reactions also exhibited high performances, thus allowing the scale-up of this reaction system for industrial use.