title: Asymmetric reduction of ethyl 2-methyl e-oxobutanoate by fungi.
abstract: Seven fungi, which are found to reduce ethyl 3-oxobutanoate in high yields, were tested for their reducing ability for ethyl 2-methyl 3-oxobutanoate. We obtained some interesting findings. In particular, Penicillium purpurogenum reduced ethyl 2-methyl 3-oxobutanoate to the corresponding alcohols with the diastereomer (anti/syn) ratio of 93/7 with the enantiomeric excess of anti-(2S,3S)- and syn-(2S,3R)- hydroxy esters of 90 and >99 ee%, respectively.
authors.affiliation: Research Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, Osaka Prefecture University, Japan.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Iwamoto
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kuramoto
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Izumi
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kirihata
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Dohmaru
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Yoshizako
mesh_terms: D001230:Aspergillus / Q000378:metabolism; D002087:Butyrates / Q000378:metabolism*; D005670:Fusarium / Q000378:metabolism; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D003904:Mitosporic Fungi / Q000378:metabolism*; D010407:Penicillium / Q000378:metabolism; D014242:Trichoderma / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D002087:Butyrates; C119270:ethyl 2-methyl-3-oxobutanoate