Whole Cell Technology for Biocatalytic Reduction

Another example is the microbial reduction of 3,4-methylene-dioxyphenylace-tone to the corresponding (S) alcohol at Lilly Research Laboratories [136] (see 

Rylander, Hydrogenation Methods, Academic Press, San Diego, 1990 and preceding volumes. 

in Asymmetric Synthesis, Vol 5, Chiral Catalysis, J. D. Morrison (Ed.), Academic Press, New York, 1985. 

Nakamura, R. Yamanaka, T. Matsuda and T. Harada, Tetrahedron Asym., 2003, 14, 2659. 

Augustine, Heterogeneous Catalysis for the Synthetic Chemist, CRC Press, 

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Fig. 3.41 Whole cell technology for biocatalytic reduction, example adapted from Ref. [117],...

Much higher productivities can be obtained using isolated enzymes or cell extracts [118]. This approach is therefore highly preferred. Because of the importance of whole cell technology for biocatalytic reduction a few examples will be given. However the main part of this chapter will be devoted to industrial examples of bioreduction involving isolated enzymes and cofactor recycling. 

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