PREPARATION OF OPTICALLY ACTIVE ALIPHATIC CARBOXYLIC ACIDS

摘要

A process for the separation of a racemic mixture of certain aliphatic carboxylic acids or esters thereof is disclosed. The process comprises: (i) forming a diastereomeric salt by reaction comprising said racemic mixture of a C1 to C6 linear or branched aliphatic carboxylic acid and an amount of an Nalkyl-D-glucamine that is sufficient to react with one of the enantiomers of the racemic mixture; (ii) precipitating from the reaction solution formed in step (i) the diastereomeric salt; (iii) separating said precipitated diastereomeric salt; (iv) decomposing the salt into its enantiomeric component and its organic base component; and (v) isolating a substantially pure enantiomer from said decomposed salt.