Chiral cyanohydrins for the synthesis of optically active compounds which are versatile bifunctional building blocks for agro-and pharmaceutical intermediates,are proving increasingly interesting.In this review,the utilities of different kinds of processes in the field of pharmaceutical chemistry have been reported.The hydroxyni-trile lyases source,the reaction conditions and the application of chiral cyanohydrins were described.%手性氰醇是一类重要的手性药物与农药中间体，并能够转化成具有不同官能团的光学活性中间体，在手性药物的合成中具有极其重要的地位。本文从氰醇醛缩酶的来源、酶催化合成手性氰醇的条件因素等几个方面系统介绍了手性氰醇的酶催化合成研究进展以及手性氰醇的应用。
展开▼
