Monitoring of enzyme catalysed reactions by Fourier transform Raman spectrometry Original Research Article

Esterification of mandelic acid catalysed by Candida antarctica lipase B was studied by Fourier transform (FT) Raman spectrometry in non-aqueous medium. It was found that there is a strict correlation between the intensity of the Raman scattering and the activity of the enzyme. FT-Raman spectrometry seems to be a fast and reliable method for selecting the appropriate enzyme and for determining the optimal enzyme water content. In addition, valuable information can be obtained from the spectra regarding the mechanism of enzyme–substrate bonding.