A new NAD-dependent alcohol dehydrogenase with opposite facial selectivity useful for asymmetric reduction and cofactor regeneration

A new NAD-dependent alcohol dehydrogenase isolated from a Pseudomonas species catalysed the reduction of many acyclic ketones to optically active alcohols with very high enantioselectivity (90 to >98% enantiomeric excess); the stereochemical course of the reduction was determined to be the transfer of the pro-(R) hydrogen from NADH to the Si face of the carbonyl group, a process different from that for other known alcohol dehydrogenases.