Lipase selectivities

Abstract One considerable advantage that enzymes potentially have over conventional chemical methods resides with the inherent selectivities of the natural catalysts. The methods for gauging these parameters are sometimes tedious, and often are not without ambiguity. Prompted by projected needs of those engaged in protein engineering to alter lipolytic activity, a number of compounds were evaluated as pseudolipids using reactivity with commercial lipases as a criterion for suitability. These then were employed to assess fatty acid‐ and stereoselectivities of thse lipase preparations. Lipases indeed show small but significant stereobiases with esters of the acetonide of glycerol, compounds whose reactivities with lipases are comparable to, and sometimes exceed, those of the corresponding triglycerides.