Synthesis of chiral pharmaceutical intermediates by biocatalysis

Chirality is a key factor in the safety and efficacy of many drug products and thus the production of single enantiomers of drug intermediates has become increasingly important in the pharmaceuticals industry. There has been an increasing awareness of the enormous potential of microorganisms and enzymes derived therefrom for the transformation of synthetic chemicals with high chemo-, regio- and enatio-selectivities. In this article, biocatalytic processes are described for the synthesis of chiral intermediates for pharmaceuticals.