3: Hydrolysis

This chapter covers enzyme classes that catalyse hydrolysis reactions using water to break carbon heteroatom bonds, including lipases, esterases, amidases, proteases, epoxide hydrolases, nitrilases, nitrile hydratases, dehalogenases and sulfatases. Each of the enzyme classes above is discussed in more detail in a separate section. These sections start with an introduction to the enzyme class and a comparison of the enzyme against conventional chemical methods of carrying out the same chemical transformation. The substrate scope of each enzyme class including its chemo-, regio- and stereoselectivity is then reported. Finally, for each enzyme class, a general mechanism for the enzyme-catalysed reaction is presented. This should give the reader a rounded understanding of when and how to apply hydrolase enzymes.