THE POTENTIAL OF LYASES FOR THE INDUSTRIAL-PRODUCTION OF OPTICALLY-ACTIVE COMPOUNDS

Lyases catalyse the cleavage of C-C, C-N, C-O and other bonds by elimi nation to produce double bonds or, conversely, catalyse the addition o f groups to double bonds. These enzymes do not require cofactor recycl ing, show an absolute stereospecificity and can give a theoretical yie ld of 100%, compared with only 50% for enantiomeric resolutions. Lyase s are therefore attracting considerable interest as biocatalysts for t he production of optically active compounds, and have already found ap plication in several large commercial processes.