Abstract: Whole cells of Saccharomyces cerevisiae AS2.1392 were used to catalyze the asymmetric reduction of methyl benzoylformate to form (R)-methyl mandelate. This biocatalytic process showed application potentials for its high catalytic activity and good operational stability. The inhibition effect of substrate and product on the bioreduction was evaluated by determining the initial reaction rate，and adsorbent resins were applied to alleviate the substrate and/or product inhibition. Due to the high adsorption capacity and the promoting effect on the bioreduction，resin NKA-Ⅱ was selected as the adsorbent material. Under the optimum resin amount and the proper adding mode，molecular yield of the product increased from 35.0% to 71.2% with an ee of (R)-methyl mandelate maintained 95% at the substrate concentration of 180 mmol/L.