Abstract:

Biocatalysis has become an increasingly valuable tool for synthetic chemists. Chiral alcohols with additional functional groups are very important intermediates in the synthesis of enantiomerically pure pharmaceuticals and other important chemicals. Chiral phenylethanols (R or S) are an interesting compounds with a number of potential applications, particularly in the drug industry. These alcohols are used as building blocks for the synthesis of bioactive compounds such as pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals and natural products. In this work, we report the use of 14 microorganisms for the asymmetric reduction of 4-Br-acetophenone.