Biocatalytic preparation of chiral 3,4-dihydroxypyrrolidines

Enzymatic acylations and alcoxycarbonylations of cis- and trans-3,4-dihydroxypyrrolidines and hydrolysis of their diacylated or dialcoxycarbonylated derivatives have been studied. High enantioselectivity is obtained using Candida antarctica lipase B as catalyst in the hydrolysis of the trans-diacetyl derivative, while for the desymmetrization of the cis-3,4-dihydroxypyrrolidines the best results are obtained in the acylation process catalyzed by C. antarctica lipase A.