High-Throughput Enzymatic Method for Enantiomeric Excess Determination of O-Acetylated Cyanohydrins

Abstract

The reaction yield and enantiomeric excess of O-acetylated cyanohydrin reaction products from a library of chiral catalysts can be analyzed by a three-step screening method. Alcohol dehydrogenase and NADH are used to analyze unreacted substrate. A lipase with absolute specificity converts one enantiomer to a quantifiable product before the remaining enantiomer is hydrolyzed with an unspecific esterase and quantified.