Production of (R)‐1‐(1,3‐benzodioxol‐5‐yl)ethanol

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In summary, screening of 15 bacterial strains has been performed for the reduction of 1‐(benzo[d][1,3]dioxol‐5‐yl)ethanone (1). Among the whole cell bacteria used for the reduction of 1, L paracasei BD101 was found to be the best biocatalyst. Important parameters such as pH, temperature, incubation time, and agitation speed were optimized for maximum product yield with excellent enantioselectivity. (R)‐1‐(1,3‐benzodioxol‐5‐yl)ethanol (2) with high enantiomeric purity was produced in gram scale with both excellent ee (>99%) and yield (89%), through a cheap, simple, and efficient process. Importantly, this is the first report on the gram‐scale production of 2 with L paracasei BD101 as a biocatalyst. This strain shows promise as a highly attractive candidate for the biocatalytic preparation of other carbinols in future studies. This is efficient and eco‐friendly system that exhibits excellent enantioselectivity and can be applied for the synthesis of valuable enantiopure secondary alcohols, which can be important intermediate product for the synthesis of drugs and biologically active compound.

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