Combination of Metals and Enzymes:
A Chemoenzymatic Approach

Significance

The one-pot combination of a ­palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling and an enzymatic ketoreduction in aqueous media towards chiral biaryl alcohols is reported. The authors found, that the Suzuki reaction proceeds smoothly in the presence of only equimolar amounts of the boronic acid. These conditions were crucial for the subsequent enzymatic operation, involving an (S)-specific alcohol dehydrogenase from Rhodococcus sp. The products were obtained in high yields and essentially perfect enantioselectivity.