In situ screening to optimize variables in organic reactions

A biphasic process for comparing the rates of a series of organic reactions run in parallel, the process comprising:

• preparing several parallel cells having an organic solvent layer and an adjacent aqueous solvent layer containing an enzymatic substrate;
• introducing a starting material into the organic solvent layer of each cell;
• reacting the starting material to produce a product and, optionally, a byproduct within each cell, the product or byproduct diffusing from the organic solvent layer into the adjacent aqueous solvent layer;
• wherein the product or byproduct reacts with the enzymatic substrate in the aqueous solvent layer to produce a spectroscopic change;
• and
• monitoring the spectroscopic change to determine the relative rates of product formation in the organic layers of the parallel cells.

A process for indirectly detecting the formation of a reaction product in a reaction mixture, the process comprising:

• forming a liquid bi-phasic reaction system, the system comprising an aqueous phase in contact with an organic phase, the organic phase comprising a substantially water-immiscible organic solvent,
• forming a reaction mixture in the organic phase, the reaction mixture containing a reactant material,
• subjecting the organic phase to a set of conditions for converting the reactant material to a reaction product,
• dissolving into the aqueous phase a composition which reacts with the water-soluble reaction product to form a species which is spectroscopically or fluorescently observable or which, upon derivatization, is spectroscopically or fluorescently observable, and
• spectroscopically or fluorescently examining the aqueous phase for the spectroscopically or fluorescently observable species, the presence, absence or amount of which being an indirect indication of the formation of the reaction product.

A biphasic process for determining or comparing the enantioselectivity of a series of organic reactions run in parallel, the process comprising:

• preparing at least two parallel cells having an organic solvent layer and an adjacent aqueous solvent layer containing a reporting enzyme;
• introducing a starting material into the organic solvent layer of each cell, wherein the organic solvent layer contains at least one reagent and at least one catalyst or promotor;
• reacting the starting material to produce a product within each cell, the product capable of existing as two enantiomers or two diastereomers, the product diffusing from the organic solvent layer into the adjacent aqueous solvent layer;
• wherein the product reacts with the reporting enzyme in the aqueous solvent layer to produce a spectroscopic change;
• and
• monitoring the spectroscopic change to determine the enantioselectivity of the product formation, the rate of formation, or both, in the organic layers of the parallel cells.