Biotechnological Properties of Sponges from Northeast Brazil: Cliona varians as a Biocatalyst for Enantioselective Reduction of Carbonyl Compounds

To research the potential ability of whole marine sponges to act as biocatalysts, this paper describes for the first time the employment of whole Cliona varians sponge in the stereoselective reduction of prochiral a-keto esters and isatin to the corresponding chiral alcohols. The addition of D-fructose, D-glucose or sucrose remarkably increased the conversion ratios and stereoselectivities by this marine sponge. Furthermore, in the presence of D-glucose and D-maltose, the reduction of isatin by C. varians afforded the corresponding 3-hydroxyindolin-2-one with high conversions (85-90%) and good enantioselectivities (60-74%). These results showed that the marine sponge presents great potential to be used as biocatalyst for stereoselective reduction of carbonyl compounds.