Microbial and homogenous asymmetric catalysis in the reduction of 1-[3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl]ethanone

Two complementary approaches for the enantioselective reduction of 1-3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl]ethanone 1 are described and compared: microbial versus asymmetric reduction of ketones through asymmetric hydrogen transfer. Among the various microorganisms screened, Lactobacillus kefir and Aspergillus niger reduced ketone 1 to the corresponding (R)-alcohol (R)-2. The (S)-alcohol (S)-2 was obtained by reduction of 1 using homogenous asymmetric catalysis. The configuration of the alcohol in both the biocatalysis and hydrogen transfer approaches was controlled by the choice of the enzyme and by the configuration of ligands, respectively. Both enantiomers were obtained in high yield and ee.