Biocatalysis refers to the process

Biocatalysis refers to the process of using enzymes or microorganisms to catalyze the conversion of non chiral or prochiral compounds into chiral products. At present, there are few examples of biocatalytic synthesis of l-menthol, mainly using oxidoreductase system, and only limited to laboratory research. The precursor must be optically active l-menthol. Pseudomonas putida dehydrogenase, which was first reported by Japanese scholars, was able to convert l-menthol into l-menthol. In 1990, Shoichi et al. Reduced l-menthol to l-menthol by NADH dependent dehydrogenase (from cellomonosturbata). The yield was 46.1g / (L · d) within 270h, but the by-product methyl isobutyl ketone was produced at the same time [5].