Digestion of the mono- and diesters of hexane-1,6-diol by pancreatic lipase.

The digestion in vitro by pancreatic lipase (EC 3.1.1.3) of the mono- and dioleate esters of hexane-1,6-diol has been studied. Under the conditions employed, the pathways for the lysis of these materials are proposed to be a hydrolysis step diester --> monoester + free fatty acid and a transesterification step 2 monoesters --> diester + free alcohol. If only the diester is present initially, it is hydrolyzed at a continuously decreasing rate with an accumulation of monoester. When the ratio of bulk concentration of diester to monoester i approximately 2.5 to 1, the diester and monoester are lysed at the same rate. As digestion continues, the amount of diester decreases but the amount of monoester remains constant. This behavior is attributed to the greater surface activity of the monoester, which causes the accumulation of this species at the oil-water interface.