Biocatalytic Reduction Reactions from a Chemist's Perspective

Reductions play a key role in organic synthesis, producing chiral products with new functionalities. Enzymes can catalyse such reactions with exquisite stereo-, regio- and chemoselectivity, leading the way to alternative shorter classical synthetic routes towards not only high-added-value compounds but also bulk chemicals. In this review we describe the synthetic state-of-the-art and potential of enzymes that catalyse reductions, ranging from carbonyl, enone and aromatic reductions to reductive aminations.

Automated summary

This review highlights the synthetic state-of-the-art and potential of enzymes catalyzing reductions, ranging from carbonyl, enone, and aromatic reductions to reductive aminations. Enzymes play a key role in producing chiral products with new functionalities, leading to alternative synthetic routes for high-added-value compounds and bulk chemicals.