Efficient bioreduction of 1-(furan-2-yl)ethanone into enantiomerically pure drug precursor by Lactobacillus paracasei BD101

•Lactobacillus paracasei BD101 biocatalyst was used for the asymmetric reduction of 1-(furan-2-yl)ethanone to (R)−1-(furan-2-yl)ethanol.•Lactobacillus paracasei BD101 was an excellent biocatalyst for the preparation of (R)−1-(furan-2-yl)ethanol.•(R)−1-(furan-2-yl)ethanol was obtained for the first time in enantiopure form and gram scale in 97% yield using a biocatalyst.•(R)−1-(furan-2-yl)ethanol can be used precursor in the synthesis of many naturally bioactive piperidine alkaloids and α, β-unsaturated δ- lactones, which have antifungal, antibiotic, and cytotoxic effects on human tumor cells. Asymmetric bioreduction catalyzed by biocatalyst have shown considerable potential in the preparation of chiral alcohols. (R)-1-(furan-2-yl)ethanol ((R)-2) can be used precursor in the synthesis of many naturally bioactive piperidine alkaloids such as (−)-Cassine, (−)-Spectaline, (−)-Carnavaline, Prosafrine and (−)- Prosafrinine. Moreover, (R)-2 a key chiral precursor in the production of α, β-unsaturated δ- lactones, which have antifungal, antibiotic, and cytotoxic effects on human tumor cells. However, the synthesis routes of (R)-2 still pose significant challenges in term of unsatisfactory enantiomeric excess (ee) and gram scale synthesis. In this study, Lactobacillus paracasei BD101 biocatalyst from boza, a cereal-based fermented beverage, for the asymmetric bioreduction of the 1-(furan-2-yl)ethanone (1). Following biocatalytic process optimization, (R)-2 was generated with >99% ee and 97% yield. In addition, 9.9 g of 1 was completely converted into (R)-2 on a gram scale (9.78 g, 97% isolated yield) in 48 h. This is the first report about the fabrication of enantiopure (R)-2 in high gram scale using biocatalyst. The optical purity of (R)-2 produced by asymmetric reduction with L paracasei BD101 was also noteworthy since it was the highest documented to date. This study provides an efficient green process for the biocatalytic synthesis of (R)-2. [Display omitted]