Enzymic Synthesis of L-Aspartate-4-¹⁴C

Abstract

AS the use of radioactive isotopes in research has been extended, there has been an increasing demand for specifically labelled metabolites of high activity. At present the synthesis of such compounds by purely chemical means is often difficult, if not impossible, particularly when only the biologically active isomer is required. While enzymic synthesis is recognized to be desirable in principle, some workers may be deterred by the difficulties involved in preparing the required enzymes to what is considered to be the necessary state of purity.