Enantioselective One‐Pot Two‐Step Synthesis of Hydrophobic Allylic Alcohols in Aqueous Medium through the Combination of a Wittig Reaction and an Enzymatic Ketone Reduction

Abstract

Abstract A one‐pot two‐step process for the enantioselective synthesis of hydrophobic allylic alcohols was developed, which comprises ketone formation by the Wittig reaction and their enzymatic in situ biotransformation into the desired target products. By means of this combined Wittig reaction and bioreduction, the allylic alcohols were prepared with conversions of up to 90 %, and with excellent enantioselectivities of >99 % ee . (© Wiley‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, 69451 Weinheim, Germany, 2007)