Department of Chemistry, University of Exeter, Stocker Road, Exeter, EX4 4QD U.K.
Abstract:
An immobilised whole cell catalyst SP361 has been shown to hydrolyse a range of 2-alkyl arylacetonitriles 1a–3a and amides 2b, 3b with good to excellent enantioselectivity. The absolute configuration of the derived amides and/or carboxylic acids shows remarkable changes according to the structure of the nitrite substrate.