Chapter One
The Integration of
Biotransformations
into the Catalyst Portfolio
CONTENTS
1.1 Hydrolysis of esters, amides, nitriles and oxiranes 4
1.2 Reduction reactions 9
1.2.1 Reduction of carbonyl compounds 10
1.2.2 Reduction of alkenes 13
1.3 Oxidative transformations 17
1.4 Carbon-carbon bond-forming reactions 26
1.5 Conclusions 37
References 39
The science of biotransformations has been investigated since the days of
Pasteur. However, progress in the use of enzymes and whole cells in synthetic
organic chemistry was relatively slow until the 1950s, when the use of micro-organisms
to modify the steroid nucleus was studied in industry and academic
laboratories. Thus conversions such as the transformation of 17[alpha]-acetoxyll-deoxycortisol
into cortisol (hydrocortisone) (1), using th ... read full excerpt from Catalysts for Fine Chemical Synthesis ebook
