MONITORING OF ENZYME-CATALYZED REACTIONS BY FOURIER-TRANSFORM RAMAN-SPECTROMETRY

Esterification of mandelic acid catalysed by Candida antarctica lipase B was studied by Fourier transform (FT) Raman spectrometry in non-aqu eous medium. It was found that there is a strict correlation between t he intensity of the Raman scattering and the activity of the enzyme. F T-Raman spectrometry seems to be a fast and reliable method for select ing the appropriate enzyme and for determining the optimal enzyme wate r content. In addition, valuable information can be obtained from the spectra regarding the mechanism of enzyme-substrate bonding. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.