Unsaturated ketone enzymatic reduction

Van Deursen, R., Stampfer, W., Edegger, K. et al. (2004) Chemo- and stereo-selective biocatalytic reduction of a,/8-unsaturated ketones employing a chemo-tolerant ADH from Rhodococcus ruber DSM 44541. Journal of Molecular Catalysis B-Enzymatic, 31 (4-6), 159-163. 

Surh YJ, Lee SS. (1992). Enzymatic reduction of shogaol a novel biotransformation pathway for the alpha, beta-unsaturated ketone system. Biochem Int. 27(1) 179-87. 

In 2006, the group from Merck reported an interesting utilization of various commercially available ketoreductases (KREDs) for the reduction of a.p-unsaturated ketones 12 and 13 for the synthesis of chiral allylic alcohols 14 and IS [19]. This enzymatic reduction combined with a dynamic kinetic racemization proved to be a very powerful method for the production of optically pure product in excellent yield starting from a racemic ketone, as shown in Scheme 12.7. 

---