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Chiral benzoins are versatile precursors to various valuable synthons such as chiral hydrobenzoins and chiral vicinal amino alcohols. In principle, ketoreductase (KRED)-catalyzed asymmetric reduction of benzils could be one of the most straightforward, green, and stereoselective methods for the synthesis of chiral benzoins. Nevertheless, the practical application potential of this appealing approach has been hampered by the low substrate loadings (usually 99% ee). The current study not only provides efficient and sustainable access to chiral benzoins but also highlights the synthetic versatility of engineered ketoreductase-catalyzed stereoselective reduction of prochiral ketones.
Ye et al. (Wed,) studied this question.