Water → Lovastatin Acid

Participants

Reaction Steps

Lovastatin shows poor solubility under the aqueous conditions necessary for enzymatic activity. Alternatively, in one aspect, a suspension of lovastatin in water is raised to pH>12 to effect a rapid hydrolysis of the lactone ring resulting in the in-situ formation of the more soluble lovastatin acid salt. In practice, a suspension of lovastatin in water/MeOH is treated with a solution of 1 mole equivalent of NaOH in water and stirred until dissolution is complete. The pH of the reaction mixture is then readjusted to a range suitable for the enzymatic reaction and the enzyme is added.

Provenance & Evidence