ENANTIOSELECTIVE PREPARATION OF THE STEREOISOMERS OF 4-METHYLHEPTAN-3-OL USING CANDIDA-ANTARCTICA LIPASE-B

The four stereoisomers of 4-methylheptan-3-ol were prepared through fr actional crystallization of a mixture of their racemic 4-methylhept-3- yl 3,5-dinitrobenzoates, followed by hydrolysis of each crystalline ra cemate and enantioselective, lipase-mediated transesterification of ea ch pair of enantiomeric alcohols liberated, using the Candida antarcti ca lipase B as catalyst and S-ethyl octanethioate as the acyl donor. A n analytical method of determining the enantiomeric composition of mix tures of 4-methylheptan-3-ols was developed. The optical purity of the separated isomers was in the range of 29-97%.