The orthogonal Plackett–Burman statistical experimental design was employed to study the efficacy of the lipase-mediated
esterification of -terpineol with a wide variety of organic acids. A two level design used to study the effect of eleven carboxylic
acids of carbon chain length C2 to C18 identified all the acids to be significant, implying that corresponding esters of -terpineol
were produced in substantial amounts, 18.7–41.1%, on using lipase as catalyst. The Plackett–Burman design, not attempted in
lipase catalysis before, is a reliable method to short-list the best organic acid from a wide range or understand the extent of
esterification possible under a given set of conditions in a very small number of experiments. © 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All
rights reserved.