Book Review pubs.acs.org/OPRD
Practical Methods for Biocatalysis and Biotransformations 2. Edited by J. Whittall, P. W. Sutton. Wiley: New York. 2012. 360 + xxviii pp. £95. ISBN 978-1-119-99139-7. enjoyed the first volume of this excellent compilation by John Whittall and Peter Sutton. The second volume is even better. It begins with a review entitled “Biocatalysis in the Fine Chemical and Pharmaceutical Industries” wherein authors from about 15 companies write sections on their own company’s research, development, and scale-up. These 59 pages, with 128 references, provide an up-to-date (to 2011) review of industrial biotransformations which will be really useful, even to the nonspecialist. The last section on “Prioritisation of Future Biocatalysis and Synthetic Biology Needs” is particularly interesting; here 15 companies were canvassed on their views and tables of results compiled. One item which stood out was that the vast majority of chemists leaving university have little, if any, knowledge about biocatalysis, and that there is a need, from an industry viewpoint, to address this. Subsequent chapters cover a particular synthetic transformation, such as reductive amination, with a short review, followed by several detailed preparative procedures (e.g., sitagliptin, synthesis of amines using transaminases). The following chapters cover “Reduction of Electron Deficient Alkenes”, “Industrial Carbonyl Reduction”, “Regio and Stereoselective Hydroxylation”, “Oxidation of Alcohols”, “Selective Oxidation”, “Industrial Hydrolyses and Related Enzymes”, “Transferases for Alkylation, Glycosylation and Phosphorylation”, “C−C bond Formation and Decarboxylation”, “Halogenation/Dehalogenation/Heteroatom Oxidation”, and finally “Tandem and Sequential Multi-Enzyme Synthesis”. Over 200 authors contributed sections to these chapters, and since many of these authors are from industry, procedures can sometimes be described on kilogram scale. Although these procedures may have been described before (e.g., in patents or Org. Process Res. Dev.), the level of experimental detail in the book is similar to that of Organic Syntheses and includes analytical methods, too. Some of the authors have been refreshingly honest in their conclusions to their section, pointing out the drawbacks to the procedure and where improvements might be made in the future. This book complements the first volumeit is not a new editionand has procedures different from those in volume 1. I assume, therefore, as biocatalysis becomes increasingly important in synthesis, particularly in industry, that there will be a volume 3 in a few year’s time; I hope so. In conclusion, the second volume of Practical Methods for Biocatalysis and Biotransformations is highly recommended, both to the nonspecialist in the area and to experts, too.
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Trevor Laird, Editor AUTHOR INFORMATION
Notes
The authors declare no competing financial interest. Published: April 11, 2013 © 2013 American Chemical Society
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dx.doi.org/10.1021/op400076c | Org. Process Res. Dev. 2013, 17, 719−719
