Enzymatic hydrolysis of poly-DL-lysine.

The c o n d e n s a t io n o f racemic ly s in e to p o ly -D L ly s in e produces a great number o f d is t in ­ guishable molecules. Following merely statistical reasoning the number o f “pure peptides“ — consisting of only one sort of enantiomers — should be extremely low. The hydrolysis of polyD L -ly s in e by pronase a n d t a k a -d ia s ta s e shows that a content of about 3% “pure“ poly-peptide is found in the product, which emphasises the preferential sythesis of identical enantiomers within the polymer chain.