BACKGROUND: Enantiomerically pure, fluorinated compounds play an important role in medicinal chemistry. Trichothecium roseum strains were isolated for the production of (R)-3'-fluorophenylethan-1-ol. Biocatalytic production of optically active (R)3'-fluorophenylethan-1-ol was achieved by asymmetric reduction of 3'-fluoroacetophenone in a batch culture of Trichothecium roseum using ram horn peptone (RHP). The reaction conditions (pH, temperature and agitation) required to improve the conversion of 3'-fluoroacetophenone and enantiomeric excess (ee) of (R)-3'-fluorophenylethan-1-ol were studied. RESULTS: The gram scale production of (R)-3'-fluorophenylethan-1-ol by the most effective biocatalyst, Trichothecium roseum EBK-11 using RHP was carried out in a fermenter with 1 L working volume. The results showed that the yield with >99% ee of (R)-3'-fluorophenylethan-1-ol reached 77%. The concentration of (R)-3'-fluorophenylethan-1-ol at the end of 62 h fermentation was 2.70 g L-1. CONCLUSION: An important chiral intermediate for the pharmaceutical industry using T. roseum EBK-11 in submerged culture containing RHP from waste material was produced up to gram scale with excellent ee (99%). In this work, T. roseum fungus was used for the first time as a biocatalyst for efficient production of a chiral alcohol. (C) 2009 Society of Chemical Industry