PRODUCTION OF OPTICALLY ACTIVE CHROMAN-3-ACETIC ACIDS AND THEIR ESTER

摘要

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To simply and efficiently produce the subject compounds useful as a raw material, etc., for medicines by bringing a mixture of the (3R)-isomer with the (3S)-isomer of chroman-3-acetic esters into contact with a stereoselective hydrolase in a reactional medium and then recovering the resultant product. SOLUTION: A mixture of the (3R)-isomer with the (3R)-isomer of chroman-3- acetic esters represented by the formula [R1 is a 1-5C alkyl; R2 is H or a (substituted)amino group] is brought into contact with an ester hydrolase having the ability to stereoselectively hydrolyze the compounds in a reactional medium to preferentially hydrolyze either one of the (3R)-isomer and (3S)-isomer. At least one of the (3R)-isomer and (3S)-isomer of the resultant optically active chroman-3-acetic acids produced by the hydrolysis or the residual chroman-3- acetic esters without being hydrolyzed is recovered from the reactional medium to thereby simply and efficiently produce the objective optically active chroman-3-acetic acids or their ester.