Green Methacrylation of Geraniol and Citronellol in Rose Oil Enabled by Amano Lipase from Pseudomonas fluorescens: A Step Toward Waste

Devising bio-synthetic routes based on well-known, simple organic transformations and utilising non-edible and waste feedstocks to create novel bio-derived alternatives to traditional materials is an attractive solution to the current unsustainable synthetic polymer economy. Terpenes have emerged as suitable feedstock alternatives to fossil-based building blocks for polymer synthesis, as they can be obtained from renewable resources and various waste streams. Herein, we report enzymatic, solvent-free, scalable, and operationally simple transformations of alcohol terpenoids into the corresponding methacrylates using Pseudomonas fluorescens lipase (PFL), affording products with full conversion and quantitative yields without the need for further purification. Using this robust method, we demonstrate the transesterification of geraniol and citronellol, the most prevalent terpenes in rose oil, directly within a rose oil mixture to yield their corresponding methacrylate derivatives. This work represents a step forward towards the green functionalisation of terpenes and the valorisation of flower waste biomass.