The present work is aimed mainly to investigate the bioreduction of acetophenone as preferred model substrate of simple ketones and aromatic ketones for asymmetric reaction and also aimed to compare the antibacterial activities of four extracts; Ethanol/H2O, diethyl ether, butanol, and ethyl acetate extracts of Pergulariatomentosa on five bacteria strains: Escherichia coliATCC11303, Bacillus cereus ATCC10987, Bacillus cereus ATCC14579, Pseudomoasaeroginosa ATCC 27853, and Salmonello ATCC700623 using disc diffusion method. The results revealed that all extracts exhibited a certain bioactivity against all tested gram positive and gram negative bacteria at 1000 and 5000 μg/ml. The highest Inhibition rate of Bacillus cereus ATCC10987 is 16 mm at the concentration 5000 μg/ml in ethyl acetate extract. Moreover a moderate inhibition diameter of 6 mm with the lowest concentration of dichloromethane extract (600 μg/ml) was recorded against Pseudomoasaeroginosa ATCC 27853. The bioreduction of acetophenone with Pergulariatomentosa L.could be reduced to chiral 1-phenylethanol with attractive enantioselectivity. The results obtained in the present study suggest that the Pergulariatomentosa L., can be used in treating diseases caused by the tested organisms and provides a new route to produce chiral alcohols, as the platform chemicals for enantiomerically pure pharmaceuticals, through asymmetric reduction of the corresponding prochiral ketones.Further chemical and pharmacological investigations may be carried out to isolate and identify the chemical constituents in the selected plants responsible for the antimicrobial activity.
