Asymmetric reduction of acetophenone to (S)-α-phenylethyl alcohol by Rhodotorula sp. cells was chosen as the model reaction to study the effect of introducing adsorption resins into the reaction system. It was shown that the substrate at a high concentration (＞50 mmol/L) in aqueous phase did have obvious toxicity to yeast cells, which could be greatly lowered by introducing an appropriate amount of resin into the reaction system to keep the substrate and product at low concentrations in aqueous phase. Three kinds of resins (HZ-801, HZ-806 and HZ-816) with different degrees of hydrophobicity were tested for their capability of adsorbing the substrate and product. As a result, HZ-816 resin with a higher hydrophobicity than the others showed the highest ability of adsorbing acetophenone and α-phenylethanol. And an increased conversion of the substrate from 54% to 91% and a decreased death rate of cells from 99% to 10% were observed after reaction for 48 h when HZ-816 resin of 100 g/L was added to the reaction system with 100 mmol/L of substrate concentration and 500 g/L (wet weight) of the yeast cells. After the reaction, the resin could be reused after the desorption of product by ethanol.

Key words: asymmetric reduction, Rhodotorula sp. cell, acetophenone, adsorption resin, (S)-α-phenylethanol