Biocatalysis: synthesis of chiral intermediates for drugs.

Chirality is a key factor in the safety and efficacy of many drug products and thus the production of single enantiomers of drug intermediates has become increasingly important in the pharmaceutical industry. Chiral intermediates and fine chemicals are in high demand for the bulk preparation of drug substances and agricultural products. There has been an increasing awareness of the enormous potential of the use of microorganisms and microorganism-derived enzymes for the transformation of synthetic chemicals with high chemo-, regio- and enantioselectivities. In this article, biocatalytic processes are described for the synthesis of chiral intermediates for drugs.