Pachysolen tannophilus cells immobilized in Ca-alginate gels were shown to catalyze the asymmetric reduction of acetophenone (AP) and chloroacetophenones (CI-APs) to their corresponding alcohols. The position of the Cl-group on the aromatic ring of AP greatly affected the reaction rate, and o-Cl-AP was the most readily reduced. For the reduction of o-Cl-AP to 2-chloro-alpha-methylbenzyl alcohol, the effect of the molar ratio of the energy source, glucose, to the substrate was examined in both batch and continuous operations, and a molar ratio much lower than that conventionally used was found to be sufficient for the reduction.