ABSTRACT
The production o f single enantiomers o f chiral intermediates has become increasingly important, especially in pharmaceutical industry. The number o f the drugs in single-enantiomer form is growing annually. W hile one o f the enantiomers has a desired activity, the other has a toxic effect or no activity. During the last decade, the importance o f enzyme-catalyzed reac tions has been well recognized as a promising method for the preparation o f enantiomerically pure compound. Asymmetric synthesis and the resolution o f the racemate are the methods used to prepare enantiomers using enzyme. Asymetric synthesis is the conversion ofprochiral substrate into a chiral product. There are two methods o f resolution o f the racemate enzymetically: kinetic resolution and dynamic kinetic resolution. The success o f the kinetic resolution is dependent on the different reaction rates o f the two enantiomers. In general the maximum yield o f kinetic resolution is only 50%, which is economically unattractive, but this problem can be overcome for instance by achieving dynamic kinetic resolution in which the unreacted enantiomer is continu ously racemised.
