Synthesis of (R)-propane-1,2-diol from lactides by dynamic kinetic resolution

The dynamic kinetic resolution (DKR) of rac-1-tert-butoxypropan-2-ol with isopropenyl acetate in the presence of Novozyme 435 and a ruthenium catalyst produces enantiomerically pure (R)-1-tert-butoxy-2-acetoxy-propane (>99.5 %ee) in a good yield. The product can be easily transformed into (R)-propane-1,2-diol without loss of stereoselectivity. Together with recently published procedures, the herein described DKR offers the possibility to use any lactide source as starting material for the production of (R)-propane-1,2-diol. The chiral diol may serve as the chiral building block for the synthesis of important enantiopure esters, like propylene carbonate, chiral polymers, etc.