Production of enantiomerically enriched chiral carbinols using whole-cell biocatalyst

Biocatalytic asymmetric reduction of ketone is an efficient method for the production of chiral carbinols. The study indicates selective bioreduction of different ketones (1–8) to their respective (R)-alcohols (1a–8a) in low to high selectivity (0- >99%) with good yields (11–96%). In this work, whole-cell of Lactobacillus kefiri P2 catalysed enantioselective reduction of various prochiral ketones was investigated. (R)-4-Phenyl-2-butanol 2a, which is used as a precursor to antihypertensive agents and spasmolytics (anti-epileptic agents), was obtained using L kefiri P2 in 99% conversion and 91% enantiomeric excess (ee). Moreover, bioreduction of 2-methyl-1-phenylpropan-1-one substrate 8, containing a branched alkyl chain and difficult to asymmetric reduction with chemical catalysts as an enantioselective, to (R)-2-methyl-1-phenylpropan-1-ol (8a) in enantiomerically pure form was carried out in excellent yield (96%). The gram-scale production was carried out, and 9.70 g of (R)-2-methyl-1-phenylpropan-1-ol (8a) in enantiomerically pure form was obtained in 96% yield. Also especially, the yield and gram scale of (R)-2-methyl-1-phenylpropan-1-ol (8a) synthesised through catalytic asymmetric reduction using the biocatalyst was the highest report so far. The efficiency of L kefiri P2 for the conversion of the substrates and ee of products were markedly influenced by the steric factors of the substrates. This is a cheap, clean and eco-friendly process for production of chiral carbinols compared to chemical processes.