Oxidation of alkenes and sulphides

The sulphoxides so formed are useful in synthetic organic chemistry, since, through formation and reaction of the corresponding a-carbanion (e.g. with aldehydes), new chiral centres can be induced adjacent to the sulphoxide unit. 

Enzyme-catalysed or whole-cell-mediated oxidation and reduction reactions are generally less easy to perform than, for example, hydrolysis reactions. There are exceptions to this rule, for example the yeast reaction of ketones. 

Glanzer, B. I. (1991). Baker s Yeast Mediated Transformations in Organic Chemistry. Chem. Rev., 91, 49. 

Fuganti, C. (1990). Baker s Yeast Mediated Synthesis of Natural Products. Pure Appl. Chem., 62, 1449. 

Holland, H. L. (1992). Organic Synthesis with Oxidative Enzymes. VCH Publishers, Weinheim. 

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