Synthesis and antibacterial activity of 1-monolaurin

Abstract

An improvement of method for synthesizing 1-monolaurin from lauric acid and glycerol has been done. The reaction was carried on mol ratio between lauric acid and glycerol 1:1 at 130 °C for 6 h with variation of pTSA catalyst of 2.5%, 5%, 7.5% (w/w of lauric acid). The purification of 1-monolaurin was conducted only by extracting with alcoholic solution. The product of 1-monolaurin was obtained as a white solid with 100% of purity from variation of 2.5% and 5% of pTSA catalyst with 43.54% and 27.89% yield, respectively. 1-Monolaurin could inhibit the growth of S. aureus and E. coli bacteria at 500 μg/mL of concentration.