Increasing the Productivity of Peroxidase-Catalyzed Oxyfunctionalization: A Case Study on the Potential of Two-Liquid-Phase Systems

Biocatalysis, which occurs mostly in aqueous reaction media, is generally incompatible with the hydrophobic nature of many reactants. This may be overcome by using the two-liquid-phase system (2LPS) approach. We demonstrate the beneficial application of the 2LPS approach for the photobiocatalytic oxyfunctionalization of thioanisole. Compared to aqueous reaction conditions, the 2LPS approach not only allowed for higher substrate loadings (without the use of additional solvents) but also increased the productivity and robustness of the overall reaction.