Asymmetric reduction of o-chloroacetophenone with Candida pseudotropicalis 104.

The asymmetric reduction of o-chloroacetophenone 1 with Candida pseudotropicalis 104 produced the corresponding (S)-1-(2-chloro-phenyl)-ethanol 2 with the enantiomeric excess (ee >99%) without addition of any cosolvent. The cell could tolerate high ketone 1 concentration of 233.8 mmol/L (i.e., 36 g/L) with considerable reduction activity in this method. The product 2 concentration achieved 38.9 and 58.4 mmol/L with cells of 40 and 60 g(DCW) (dry cell weight)/L, respectively, in 24 h. The optimum reaction time, the effect of substrate concentration, cosubstrate type and concentration, and cell concentration in the reaction were investigated in this paper.