APPLICATION OF ENZYMES TO THE SYNTHESIS OF SURFACTANTS

Recent progress in the application of isolated enzymes to the preparat ion of surface-active compounds demonstrates the feasibility of an alt ernative to organosynthetic methods. Processes such as the syntheses o f monoglycerides, sugar fatty acid esters, (lyso)phospholipids, anomer ically pure alkyl glycosides and amino acid-based surfactants are disc ussed, highlighting some of the advantages of enzymatic methods over c onventional organic syntheses and whole-cell systems.