Circular dichroism as a detection method in the screening of enantioselective catalysts

The combination of liquid chromatography (HPLC), UV/Vis-spectroscopy and ci rcular dichroism (CD) can be used to construct a high-throughput screening system to determine the enantioselectivity of enzyme- or metal-catalyzed re duction of acetophenone with formation of (S)- and (R)-1-phenylethanol. Pre requisite for the viability of this system is the experimental finding that the anisotropy factor g is linearly related to the enantiomeric excess (ee ) and that it is independent of concentration, thereby excluding possible a ggregation effects. (C) 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.