Stereoelectronic influence of fluorine in enzyme resolutions of α-fluoroesters

Abstract
The very high enantioselectivity demonstrated by two different lipase enzymes towards α-fluoroesters is shown from quantitative PM3 and ab initio 6-31G* SCF-MO calculations to arise from stereoelectronic factors, which are predicted to be reduced when the diastereoisomeric transition states are modelled in the condensed aqueous phase.
Keywords