LIPASE-CATALYZED PREPARATION OF PEROXY ACIDS AND THEIR USE FOR EPOXIDATION

The lipase-catalyzed reactions of carboxylic acids and carboxylic acid esters with hydrogen peroxide are used to generate various peroxy aci ds at room temperature and without mineral acids. Whereas Novozym 435( R) will only be able to catalyze the conversion of free unbranched car boxylic acids to peroxy acids, alpha-methylsubstituted carboxylic acid ethylesters can be converted to peroxy acids by perhydrolysis using t he same enzyme. These peroxy acids are used in-situ for the epoxidatio n of unsaturated compounds and thus a new versatile epoxidation method for organic synthesis is proposed.