Efficient synthesis of optically pure 1,1,1-trifluoro-2-alkanols through lipase-catalyzed acylation in organic media

Lipase-catalyzed esterification was successfully utilized for the optical resolution of 1,1,1-trifluoro-2-alkanol 1 when racemic 1 was treated with lipase from Candida antarctica in hexane in the presence of molecular sieves (4 Angstrom) to provide the corresponding (S)-acetate 2 in an optically pure state. Alkanol 1 is known as an important component of liquid crystal compounds which display remarkable ferroelectric liquid crystal (FLC) characteristics. Five types of optically pure alkanols, i.e., 1,1,1-trifluoro-2-octanol (1a), 1,1,1-trifluoro-2-nonanol (1b), 1,1,1-trifluoro-2-decanol (1c), 1,1,1-trifluoro-2-undecanol (1d), and 1,1,1-trifluoro-8-(benzyloxy)-2-octanol (1e), were thus obtained by the lipase-catalyzed acylation.