Limonene is one of the most important
terpenes having wide applications
in food and fragrance industries. The epoxide of limonene, limonene
oxide, finds important applications as a versatile synthetic intermediate
in the chemical industry. Therefore, attempts have been made to synthesize
limonene oxide using eco-friendly processes because of stringent regulations
on its production. In this regard, we have attempted to synthesize
it using a cost-effective and eco-friendly process. Chemoenzymatic
epoxidation of limonene to limonene oxide was carried out using in
situ generation of peroxy octanoic acid from octanoic acid and H
2
O
2
. In this study, agricultural-waste rice husk
ash (RHA)-derived silica was surface-functionalized using (3-aminopropyl)
triethoxysilane (APTS), which was cross-linked using glutaraldehyde
for immobilization of
Candida antarctica
lipase B. Furthermore, the immobilized enzyme was entrapped in calcium
alginate beads to avoid enzyme leaching. Thus, limonene oxide was
prepared using this catalyst under conventional and microwave heating.
The microwave irradiation intensifies the process, reducing the reaction
time under the same conditions. Maximum conversion of limonene to
limonene oxide of 75.35 ± 0.98% was obtained in 2 h at 50 °C
using a microwave power of 50 W. In the absence of microwave irradiation,
the conventional heating gave 44.6 ± 1.14% conversion in 12 h.
The reaction mechanism was studied using the Lineweaver–Burk
plot, which follows a ternary complex mechanism with inhibition due
to peroxyoctanoic acid (in other words H
2
O
2
).
The prepared catalyst shows high reusability and operational stability
up to four cycles.