Enzymatic resolution of heterocyclic intermediates for biologically active compound preparation

A number of heterocyclic synthons of biologically active compounds were resolved into enantiomers by enzymatic kinetically controlled deracemization in organic media. High enantioselectivities (>98% ee) and good chemical yields were obtained for all substrates using the corresponding lipases. Among the lipases tested, Candida Antarctica B and Burkholderia cepacia were the most efficient enzymes for resoluting these substrates into enantiomers. These compounds were proposed as starting reactants for important bioactive drug preparation that are of interest to many chemists and pharmacologists. 1-Heteroaroethanols are structural fragments of a number of important medical drugs A method was developed that provided high enantiomeric purity of thiochromanols and 4-hydroxythiochromane 1,1-dioxides. The enantiomeric purity of the compounds was determined by derivatization with Mosher acid, as well as NMR in chiral solvating mediums. Absolute configurations were determined using X-ray diffraction analysis and chiral HPLC.