Perindopril is an effective antihypertensive drug in strong demand used to treat hypertension. L-norvaline is a vital intermediate of Perindopril production mainly produced by chemical synthesis with low purity. We developed an environmentally friendly method to produce L-norvaline with high purity based on a desymmetrization process. D-Norvaline was oxidized to the corresponding keto acid by D-amino acid oxidase from the substrate DL-norvaline. Asymmetric hydrogenation of the keto acid to L-norvaline was carried out by leucine dehydrogenase with concomitant oxidation of NADH to NAM A NADH regeneration system was introduced by overexpressing a formate dehydrogenase. The unwanted H2O2 by-product generated during D-norvaline oxidation was removed by adding catalase. A total of 54.09 g/L of L-norvaline was achieved, with an enantiomeric excess over 99% under optimal conditions, with a 96.7% conversion rate. Our desymmetrization method provides an environmental friendly strategy for the production of enantiomerically pure L-norvaline in the pharmaceutical industry. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.