Enzymatic resolution of amino acid esters using ionic liquid N-ethyl pyridinium trifluoroacetate

A new ionic liquid, N-ethyl pyridinium trifluoroacetate, was used with a commercial protease to resolve N-acetyl amino acid esters in place of traditional organic solvents. Products with enantiomeric excess (ee) between 86-97% were obtained. These results show that with low concentration of this new ionic liquid, the enzymatic resolution can be increased considerably depending upon the substrate being used.