Chemoenzymatic synthesis of structured triacylglycerols by highly regioselective acylation

A highly efficient two-step chemoenzymatic synthesis of structured triacylglycerols comprising a pure n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid at the mid-position and a pure saturated fatty acid located at the end-positions is described. In the first step an immobilized Candida antarctica lipase was observed to display an excellent regioselectivity toward the end-positions of glycerol at 0-4°C using vinyl esters as acylating agents. The n-3 fatty acids were introduced into the remaining mid-position highly efficient and in excellent yields using EDCI coupling agent.