Alcohol dehydrogenases (ADHs), which belong to the oxidoreductase superfamily, catalyze the interconversion between alcohols and aldehydes or ketones with high stereoselectivity under mild conditions. ADHs are widely employed as biocatalysts for the dynamic kinetic resolution of racemic substrates and for the preparation of enantiomerically pure chemicals. This review provides an overview of biotechnological applications for ADHs in the production of chiral pharmaceuticals and fine chemicals.

The objective of this work is to investigate the effects of reaction conditions on the synthesis of octenyl succinic anhydride (OSA)-modified starch from waxy corn starch and to study the characteristics of the OSA-modified starch as well as its applications. A mathematical model was developed to investigate the influences of various processing condition factors on the production of the OSA-modified waxy corn starch production and predict the optimum reaction conditions. The maximal degree of substitution (DS) of OSA-modified waxy corn starch (0.0204) was predicted to occur when the starch concentration was 31.2%, the pH was 8.6, the reaction temperature was 33.6 degrees C, and the reaction time was 18.7 h. Repeated reactions for producing OSA-modified waxy corn starch were carried out in a 5 m(3) reactor under the optimized conditions for verification of the model. The characteristics of modified waxy corn starch including infrared spectrum, scanning electron microscopy, and pasting property were tested and emulsification capacity of the OSA-modified starch were evaluated as well.

Acarbose is a clinically useful drug for the treatment of type II, insulin-independent diabetes as a hypoglycemic agent. An acarbose-overproducing strain ZJB-08196, indentified as Actinoplanes utahensis, was able to produce 4,210 mg l -1 of acarbose at 591 mOsm kg -1 with the optimized conditions at bench scale. Shake flask fermentation showed that maltose, glycerol and monosodium glutamate were supportive for acarbose production; soybean meal had higher bioavailability than corn steep liquor. Moreover, acarbose formation was not parallel with mycelial growth and the pattern of acarbose production by A. utahensis ZJB-08196 was the type of mixed-growth associated.