Biotechnology Letters Vol 13 No 12 867-870 (1991) Received 12th November ENZYMATIC HYDROLYSIS OF 2,2,2,-TRIFLUOROETHYL (z- CHLORO-o~-PHENYLACETATE IN ORGANIC MEDIA Maria Jesds Garcia, Rosario Brieva, Francisca Rebolledo and Vicente Gotor* Departamento de Qu[mica Organometfilica,Universidad de Oviedo, 33071 Oviedo, Spain SUMMARY 2,2,2-Trifluoroethyl o~-chloro=o~-phenylacetate is succesfully hydrolysed in organic solvent in the presence of aniline and Candida cylindracea or Pseudomonas cepacia lipase as catalysts. INTRODUCTION Hydrolytic enzymes such as lipases and proteases have been widely used in enantioselective processes (Chen and Sih, 1989; Klibanov, 1990) and at present, these biocatalysts are becoming a powerful complement to the conventional chemistry methods. The capability of these enzymes to act in organic solvents (Zaks and Ktibanov, 1985) needs to be added to their properties. In these media, the substrate specificity and enantioselectivity of these enzymes can be altered (Kiibanov, 1989). The influence of substrate structure and organic solvent on the catalytic efficiency of Candida cylindracea lipase (CCL) has recently been studied using the esterification of different 2-hydroxyacids with primary alcohols as reaction model (Parida and Dordick, 1991); hydrophilic media such as dioxane and tetrahydrofuran lead to losses in the reactivity of the lipase and poor enantioselectivity. We have investigated the enzymatic hydrolysis of 2,2,2-trifiuoroethyl o~-chloro-o~-phenylacetate in organic solvents in the presence of aniline. MATERIALS AND METHODS Materials. Candida cylindracea lipase (Type VII) was purchased from Sigma 867