Biocatalytic Reduction Reactions from a Chemist's Perspective

Abstract Reductions play a key role in organic synthesis, producing chiral products with new functionalities. Enzymes can catalyse such reactions with exquisite stereo‐, regio‐ and chemoselectivity, leading the way to alternative shorter classical synthetic routes towards not only high‐added‐value compounds but also bulk chemicals. In this review we describe the synthetic state‐of‐the‐art and potential of enzymes that catalyse reductions, ranging from carbonyl, enone and aromatic reductions to reductive aminations.