Herein, we describe the impact of the introduction of tertiary amines as additive during the enzymatic kinetic resolution via deacylation of some arylalkyl acetates 1a-8a under promiscuous conditions. Two CAL-B preparations were examined: Novozym®435 and CHIRAZYME® L-2, c.-f. C2, lyo. The influence of the introduction of seven amines is checked: Triethylamine (Et3N), Pyridine, 4-Dimethylaminopyridine (4-DMAP), 1,4-Diazabicyclo[2.2.2]octane (DABCO), Cinchonine, Cinchonidine, Quinine and Quinidine; and that in two organic solvent: diisopropylether (DIPE) and tertiobutylmethyl ether (TBME).

Among the examined amines, the use of DABCO as additive recorded the best results in terms of reactivity and selectivity. It was to be highlighted that this additive was reported as an enzyme activator for the first time in the enzymatic kinetic resolution via hydrolysis of racemic acetates under non-aqueous conditions. Both CAL-B preparations showed the same behavior in the presence of the chosen additives during the biodeacylation of the resolved acetates. No direct correlation between the pKa values of several used additives and the CAL-B activation rates has been revealed.

An ideal enzymatic kinetic resolution was recorded with the acetate 4a (Conv 50% and E > >200).