[17] Screening techniques for lipase catalyst selection

Publisher Summary This chapter summarizes important types of screening experiments commonly to be executed in laboratories engaged in the synthetic applications of lipases. Faced with the necessity of finding the most suitable lipase for the solution of a synthetic problem, organic chemists usually have to address one of the following: (1) adopting an “established” lipase with known selectivities and substrate tolerance toward the transformation of a given substrate; (2) finding the best lipase among commercially available enzymes for the conversion of a given target molecule; (3)finding a new lipase for the conversion of a defined target molecule; and (4) most likely of interest mainly to enzyme producers and in an attempt to make new lipases with interesting properties available to the scientific community, screening lipases—or microorganisms producing such enzymes—for their substrate tolerance, enantioselectivity, solvent dependence, and other properties. The chapter aims to inform the important issues related to the application of these enzymes.