Mechanism of the yeast mediated reduction of nitrostyrenes in light petroleum
Abstract
The yeast mediated reduction of a range of α- and β-deutero substituted nitrostyrenes has been conducted in light petroleum in the presence of a small amount of water or D2O. NMR analysis of the products from these reactions has allowed the determination of the mechanism of this yeast reduction reaction. The results indicate that initially, a reversible non-stereoselective protonation occurs at the β-centre, followed by stereoselective addition of hydride at the α-position.