Patent ID: 6939693

Claim:
A process for the preparation of an oligomer, the process comprising: forming a reaction mixture comprising an enzyme, an enantiomeric mixture of an α-amino acid or a derivative thereof, and an enantiomeric mixture of an α-hydroxy carboxylic acid or a derivative thereof, wherein the α-hydroxy carboxylic acid comprises 2-hydroxy-4-(methylthio)butyric acid or a derivative thereof; and forming an oligomer from the reaction mixture, said oligomer incorporating one of the members of the enantiomeric mixture of the α-amino acid or derivative thereof in preference to the other member. wherein the formed oligomer comprises an oligomer of two or more α-amino acid monomers bonded to a residue of the α-hydroxy carboxylic acid or a derivative thereof by an amide or ester linkage.