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Updated: Jul 7, 2026
Enzymatic Cascade Reactions for the Synthesis of Chiral Amino Alcohols from L-lysine
Published on: February 16, 2018
Determination of absolute configuration of secondary alcohols using lipase-catalyzed kinetic resolutions
Qing Jing1, Romas J Kazlauskas
1Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Biophysics and the Biotechnology Institute, University of Minnesota, Saint Paul, Minnesota 55106-6104, USA.
Abstract:
Lipases show high enantioselectivity toward a wide range of secondary alcohols. An empirical rule based on the relative sizes of the substituents predicts which enantiomer reacts faster. X-ray structures of lipases provide a molecular basis for this empirical rule: their alcohol-binding pocket contains large hydrophobic pocket open to solvent and another smaller pocket. This predictable enantiopreference of lipases allows the determination of the absolute configuration of secondary alcohols using lipase-catalyzed kinetic resolution. Researchers have used this relative method to determine the configuration of approximately 50 secondary alcohols either as the only method or in combination with other methods.
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