Enzyme-catalyzed polyoxyalkylene esters

One aspect of the present invention is a polyoxyalkylene ester composition comprising the reaction product of a polyoxyalkylated alcohol or polyol reactant and an acyl donor wherein the ester has greater than about 85 weight percent of a fully acylated polyoxyalkylene ester, less than about 15 percent of a partially acylated polyoxyalkylene ester, less than about 5 parts per million 1,4-dioxane and an acid number of less than about 20. Another aspect of the invention is a process for making the polyoxyalkylene ester composition that includes the steps of contacting a reaction mixture of an polyoxyalkylated alcohol or polyol reactant and an acyl donor reactant in a reactor and in the presence of an enzymatic catalyst under esterification conditions and recovering the polyoxyalkylene ester. 本发明的个方面是包含聚氧烷基化醇或聚氧烷基化多元醇反应物与酰基供体的反应产物的聚氧化烯酯组合物，其中该酯具有大于大约85重量%的完全酰化的聚氧化烯酯、小于大约15%的部分酰化的聚氧化烯酯、小于大约5份每百万份的1,4-二氧杂环己烷和小于大约20的酸值。本发明的另方面是制备该聚氧化烯酯组合物的方法，其包括使聚氧烷基化醇或聚氧烷基化多元醇反应物与酰基供体反应物的反应混合物在反应器中和在酶催化剂的存在下在酯化条件下接触和回收聚氧化烯酯的步骤。