Asymmetric reduction of 1-(benzoazol-2-ylsulfanyl)propan-2-ones using whole cells of Mortierella isabellina, Debaryomyces hansenii, Geotrichum candidum and Zygosaccharomyces rouxii

- Asymmetric reduction of 1-(benzoazole-2-ylsulfanyl)propan-2-ones using whole cells of Mortierella isabellina, Debaryomyces hansenii, Geotrichum candidum and Zygosaccharomyces rouxii was performed.
- The biotransformation products were isolated with moderate to good yields (45-89%) and in highly enantioenriched forms (94-99% ee).
- All of the investigated yeast strains displayed a very high activity toward prochiral ketones converting them to the desired alcohols in remarkably short reaction times (1-3.5 h).