Ibuprofen is a commonly used anti-inflammatory drug. Ibuprofen is a chiral compound that is currently produced as a racemic mixture. However, only the S enantiomer is pharmacologically active. The ability to produce optically pure drugs will have a large impact on the pharmaceutical industry because many drugs are chiral and some enantiomers are harmful or toxic while others are beneficial. The possibility of separating enantiomers efficiently would allow for the production of new drugs that have not been possible before. Research on chiral separations is a relatively new field in which developments are being made often. One technique of current interest is separation via an asymmetric reaction catalyzed by a stereo selective enzyme.

The asymmetric ibuprofen reaction was carried out in a non aqueous solvent using the enzyme Candida Antarctica Lipase B. This enzyme has shown asymmetric catalytic properties with other reactions in non aqueous solutions. The water activity, which is important to the selectivity of the enzyme, was controlled using a pervaporation reactor. The reaction was analyzed with High Performance Liquid Chromatography for overall conversion and selectivity.