Synergistic Effect of Pd/C and Novozyme 435 on the Dynamic Kinetic Resolution of 1,1,1-trifluoroisopropylamine

Response surface methodology (RSM) was successfully applied to study the synergistic effect of Pd/C and Novozyme 435 on the dynamic kinetic resolution of 1,1,1-trifluoroisopropylamine (TFPA). The variables taken into consideration were reaction temperature, substrate concentration, the Pd/C amount, and the Novozyme 435 amount. A statistical model was used to evaluate the influence of the variables on the conversion and enantiomeric excess (ee). It was found that the interaction between the Novozyme 435 and Pd/C was a significant parameter that affected TFPA conversion. The optimum conditions for RSM were: reaction temperature of 35°C, substrate (±) ? 1 concentration of 0.4 mol/L, 60 g/L of Novozyme 435, and 42.4 g/L of Pd/C (3 wt% of Pd on active carbon). The actual experimental conversion was 95.6% under optimum conditions, which was comparable to the maximum predicted value of 95.7%.