Patent ID: 8470565

Claim:
A method for esterification and/or trangesterfication of a substrate with an alcohol, the method comprising: (1) combining the substrate with at least one alcohol, at least one ionic liquid and at least one enzyme, wherein: said substrate comprises oils, fats, fatty acids, or a mixture thereof, said ionic liquid, said substrate, and said alcohol form a single homogeneous liquid phase at the temperature at which the esterification and/or transesterification is performed, and said at least one ionic liquid is lipophilic, non miscible with water, and comprises a cation having a cationic head and an anion having an anionic head; and (2) carrying out the esterification and/or transesterification of the substrate, wherein, said cationic head and/or anionic head are independently substituted by one or more carbon side chains, which may be the same or different, the carbon side chains being linear or branched, saturated or unsaturated carbon chains, provided that at least one of the side chains comprises at least 10 carbon atoms.