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The ruthenium-catalyzed redox isomerization of allylic alcohols was successfully coupled with the enantioselective enzymatic ketone reduction (mediated by KREDs) in a concurrent process in aqueous medium. The overall transformation, formally the asymmetric reduction of allylic alcohols, took place with excellent conversions and enantioselectivities, under mild reaction conditions, employing commercially and readily available catalytic systems, and without external coenzymes or cofactors. Optimization resulted in a multistep approach and a genuine cascade reaction where the metal catalyst and biocatalyst coexist from the beginning.

A chemoenzymatic and selective method for the epoxidation of a series of linear and cyclic alkenes is described.

Both enantiomers of enantiopure imidazolium ionic liquids were synthesized by a simple and straightforward procedure from (R,R)- and (S,S)-2-(1H-imidazol-1-yl)cyclohexanol derivatives obtained via lipase-catalyzed resolution. Structural properties and thermal stability of these compounds have been studied to elucidate their potential applications in asymmetric catalysis.