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Abstract
Over the past two years the application of ketoreductases in the commercial synthesis
of chiral alcohols has undergone a revolution. Biocatalysts are now often the preferred
catalyst for the synthesis of chiral alcohols via ketone reduction and are displacing
reagents and chemocatalysts that only recently were considered break-through process
solutions themselves. Tailor-made enzymes can now be generated from advanced, non-natural
variants using HTP screening and modern molecular biology techniques. At the same
time, global economic and environmental pressures direct industrial process development
toward versatile platforms that can be applied to the different stages of product
development. We will discuss the technologies that have emerged over the past years
that have guided biocatalysis from the bottom of the toolbox, to the power tool of
choice.