The initial rates m, for the consumption of palmitic acid and m1, for the formation of methyl palmitate were calculated from the early linear portion of the graph (Fig. 6a) from the decreasing concentration of palmitic acid and increasing concentration of methyl palmitate, respectively by using the equations, m = d[PA]/dt and m1 = d[MP]/dt. Under the optimized reaction conditions, both the rates m (0.66 mmol h1) and m1 (0.61 mmol h1) were found to be almost equal indicating that there is a good balance between the concentration of the consumption of palmitic acid and selective formation of methyl palmitate