Industrial biotransformations microbial enzymes

Though use of isolated purified enzymes is advantageous in that undesirable byproduct formation mediated by contaminating enzymes is avoided [37], in many industrial biotransformation processes for greater cost effectiveness the biocatalyst used is in the form of whole cells. For this reason baker s yeast, which is readily available, has attracted substantial attention from organic chemists as a catalyst for biotransformation processes. One of the first commercialized microbial biotransformation processes was baker s yeast-mediated production of (R)-phenylacetyl carbinol, where yeast pyruvate decarboxylase catalyzes acyloin formation during metabolism of sugars or pyruvate in the presence of benzaldehyde [38]. 

Biotransformations involve the use of isolated enzymes or intact microbial cells for the highly selective transformations of organic molecules for cutting edge preparative organic syntheses. Ideally, the use of biocatalysts (i.e. enzymes or whole cells) in the industrial preparation of useful compounds would be economical and environmentally friendly. Readers wishing a more thorough discussion on this topic are referred to a recently published article [85]. 

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