Baker’s yeast catalyzed Henry reaction: Biocatalytic C-C bond formation

The C-C bond formation is an important reaction in organic synthesis to obtain value-added intermediates. Therefore, in this paper an attempt has been made to accelerate the Henry reaction (C-C bond formation) between aryl aldehydes and nitromethane using less expensive whole cell biocatalyst, baker’s yeast (BY). The scope of the methodology was also tested for the heteryl aldehyde i.e. 2-chloro-3-formyl quinoline to obtain the corresponding quinoline containing nitroalcohol. The developed protocol is highly efficient and completely environmentally friendly. The work addressed the issue of non-aqueous biocatalysis, since Henry reaction catalysed by baker's yeast has been carried out in ethanol.