Organic Synthesis withEnzymes in Non-AqueousMediaEdited by Giacomo Carrea andSergio Riva.

Wiley-VCH, Weinheim 2008. XVIII+310 pp. ,hardcover E 149.00.—ISBN 978-3-527-31846-9

Very recently, Iwas asked by asurprised chemist:“Can enzymesreally work in or-ganic solvents?”Now, a fewmonths later, thisbook gives a clearand convincingpositive answerto this question by showing a vastnumber of examples of applications ofenzymes in organic solvents, biphasicsystems, ionic liquids and even in solid/gas systems. Clearly, the topic of thisbook is extremely timely. The editorshave done an excellent job in bringingtogether outstanding experts for the var-ious chapters that deal with the differentaspects of organic synthesis with en-zymes in non-aqueous media. The bookconsists of three major parts : 1) the fun-damentals of biocatalysis in neat organicsolvents, 2) synthetic applications in neatorganic solvents and 3) biocatalysis innew reaction media.

The first three chapters, which dealwith the fundamentals, are outstanding:The theory behind the application of en-zymes in neat organic solvents, the ef-fects of organic solvents on enzyme se-lectivity and the activation of enzymes

for use in organic solvents form a perfectintroduction for the newcomer as well asa backup for the “advanced” enzymeuser. In the latter chapter, all the meth-ods to get enzymes to work or to im-prove the activity of biocatalysts in or-ganic solvents are summarized, includingimmobilisation, lyophilisation, and theaddition of salt and water mimics.

The subsequent four chapters describethe application of hydrolases in neat or-ganic solvents, especially transesterifica-tion and amidation, with special empha-sis on chemoselectivity and regioselectiv-ity. One of these chapters is devoted tothe deracemisation process and coversin depth various types of dynamic kinet-ic resolution (DKR). This chapter on DKRis subdivided according to the variousracemisation methods that can be cou-pled with enzymatic resolution. The finalchapter of the second part deals with in-dustrial-scale applications and comprisesa collection of hydrolase reactions andcyanohydrin formation for the prepara-tion of bioactive compounds by employ-ing the techniques explained in the pre-vious chapters.

The third and final part focuses on bi-phasic systems and new reaction media.An introductory chapter explains thetheory and physical mechanisms aboutinterfacial area, mass transfer coefficientsand process modeling. A case study forthe formation of cyanohydrins employ-ing oxynitrilases is provided. Various op-tions for enzyme preparation such as en-capsulation and cross-linked enzyme ag-gregates (CLEAs) are discussed. A sepa-rate chapter discusses the possibilitiesand challenges concerning the use ofionic liquids. Besides examples employ-

ing hydrolases, also examples using alco-hol dehydrogenases, whole cells andsulfur oxidation are given. The chaptersolid/gas biocatalysis demonstrates clear-ly the complex theory behind the solid/gas system and discusses the pros andcons of such as system with the aid oftwo examples. The final chapter dealswith biocatalytic transformations of asolid and not fully dissolved substrate toa precipitating product.

I really enjoyed going through thisbook, although some basic explanationsand definitions come up several times asis sometimes the case with a multi-author book. It is of high interest forpeople who want to learn about en-zymes and the possibilities of usingthem in non-aqueous systems, and alsoextremely useful for everybody alreadyusing such systems for simply lookingup a specific reaction and to be inspiredby related systems or other possibilities.

The comprehensive book is definitelya highly valuable condensation of thevarious subtopics, concentrating infor-mation which is otherwise hard to get.The combination of basic backgroundtheory with a good number of examplesattracts the reader. Therefore, I canhighly recommend this book to chemistsfrom industry and academia who areworking in this field as well as to stu-dents. Chemists who are not yet workingin this field may be inspired and encour-aged to consider also biocatalysts tosolve their synthetic problems.

Wolfgang KroutilUniversity of GrazGraz (Austria)DOI: 10.1002/cssc.200800083

Like Ducks to Water: Biocats in Solvents

ChemSusChem 2008, 1, 467 7 2008 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH&Co. KGaA, Weinheim www.chemsuschem.org 467