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Biocatalysis generally has the advantage over chemical synthesis in that natural enzymes have stereospecificity so that the product is not a mixture of _______

User Xhan
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Final answer:

Biocatalysis is preferred over chemical synthesis in producing stereospecific results, as enzymes like fumarase and chymotrypsin create products that are not mixtures but single stereoisomers.

Step-by-step explanation:

Biocatalysis generally has the advantage over chemical synthesis because natural enzymes exhibit stereospecificity, meaning that the product is not a mixture of different stereoisomers.

This specificity results in reactions that preferentially produce a single stereoisomeric form of the product. For example, the enzyme fumarase reacts selectively with fumarate, producing (S)-malate and not its stereoisomer (R)-malate.

Biological systems, including enzymatic reactions, are characterized by this high level of selectivity, as seen with the enzyme chymotrypsin and its precise chiral selectivity among possible stereoisomers for amino acid L-configuration.

User Kassie
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