ABSTRACT
Biocatalysis is able to provide useful and greener alternatives for the preparation of anticancer drugs, either by modification of natural products or by de novo synthesis of small molecules. Representative examples of biocatalytic strategies are to prepare chiral building blocks as key intermediates in the synthesis of pharmaceuticals at the lab and industrial scales. Due to the high chemo-, regio-, and enantioselectivities commonly displayed by biocatalysts, biotransformations have acquired more interest for the production of chiral building blocks, as well as biologically active compounds, offering the development of environmentally and economically attractive processes. The advantages of using different types of enzymes on each process, such as hydrolases, oxide reductases, transferases, or lyases, will be discussed, as well as the optimization of the biocatalytic reaction conditions. H. Fazlena et al. described the Dynamic kinetic resolution process of ethoxyethyl ibuprofen ester through the combination of Candida rugosa-catalyzed enantioselective hydrolysis and the racemization of the remnant ester by action of sodium hydroxide.
