The preparation of fine chemicals via enzyme catalysis

The drive for novelty with activity in the pharmaceutical industry has caused a switch of interest from low molecular weight hydrocarbons and heterocycles towards much more complex biological molecules and their derivatives. For drug use in particular, enantiomerically pure samples of 

Natural products Chiral molecules Sugars from starch 

Not all catalytic Heavy metal waste Destructive oxidation 

Preparation of an enantiomerically pure compound is more difficult than making a racemic mixture, and removal of contaminants from the required product can be tricky. Fortunately, nature has already solved the problem of enantiomeric selectivity, and almost all biological reactions are catalysed or regulated by enzymes. Enzymes are complex macromolecules with specific binding sites which make them almost totally selective towards one product. They are only suitable for reactions which occur in nature, but this is rarely a drawback in the manufacture of drugs. Chemists have taken advantage of enzymes and adapted them for laboratory and even plant scale syntheses. 

Current industrial applications of enzymes include the preparation of modified penicillins using penicillin acylase, and the conversion of starch into sugars [7]. Because of their ability to digest fatty acids, enzymes saw a fleeting popularity in household detergents, although they are now less common. 

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