Ethyl cinnamate was synthesized by the reaction of ethyl alcohol with cinnamic acid using hydrogel immobilized porcein pancreatic lipase (PPL). The PPL was immobilized on to a formalin (2%, v/v) activated poly(AAc-co-HPMA-cl-EGDMA) hydrogel. The hydrogel-bound PPL was used to perform esterification of ethanol with cinnamic acid in equimolar ratio (100 mM each) in dimethyl sulfoxide. Various kinetic parameters were optimized to produce ethyl cinnamate using immobilized lipase. The maximum conversion (55 mM) was achieved at temperature 65 degrees C in 27 h under continuous shaking. The hydrogel-bound PPL retained more than 50% of its original activity up to second cycle of repetitive esterification under optimized conditions. (C) 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 121: 2674-2679, 2011