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Baker's yeast catalyzed asymmetric reduction of methyl acetoacetate in glycerol containing systems

Adi Wolfson, Nisim Haddad, Chrstina Dlugy, Dorith Tavor and Yoram Shotland,

Org. Commun. (2008), 1:2 ; 9-16

Green Processes Center, Chemical Engineering Department, Sami Shamoon College of Engineering, Bialik/Basel Sts. Beer-Sheva, 84100 Israel

Abstract: The asymmetric hydrogenation of methyl acetoacetate was successfully performed with baker's yeast in pure glycerol and mixtures of glycerol and water. Though yeast viability was very low after exposure to glycerol, the enzymatic activity in pure glycerol was preserved for some days. In addition, a mixture of glycerol and water combined the advantageous of each individual solvent and resulted in high catalytic performance and efficient product extraction yield.

Key words: Asymmetric synthesis; baker's yeast; glycerol; fermentation; reduction