A new hydrogenation catalyst based on a manganese complex of a chiral P,N,N ligand has been found to be especially active for the hydrogenation of esters down to 0.1 mol % catalyst loading, and gives up to 97 % ee in the hydrogenation of pro-chiral deactivated ketones at 30-50 °C.

A wild-type Baeyer-Villiger monooxygenase was engineered to overcome numerous liabilities in order to mediate a commercial oxidation of pyrmetazole to esomeprazole, using air as the terminal oxidant in an almost exclusively aqueous reaction matrix. The developed enzyme and process compares favorably to the incumbent Kagan inspired chemocatalytic oxidation, as esomeprazole was isolated in 87% yield, in >99% purity, with an enantiomeric excess of >99%.

Rational design using kinetic studies has led to a 3-fold-increase in the reaction-rates compared to an already-promising lead catalyst for the reduction of ketones and esters.

A manganese-catalyzed hydrogenation of esters has been accomplished with TONs up to 1000, using cheap, environmentally benign, potassium carbonate and simple alcohols as activator and solvent, respectively. The weakly basic conditions lead to good functional group tolerance and enable the hydrogenation of enantiomerically enriched α-chiral esters with essentially no loss of stereochemical integrity.

A manganese complex of a tridentate P,N,N ligand can catalyse the reduction of esters using ethanol as the reductant.