Ethyl butyryl oxy(phenyl)methane(P-phenyl)phosphinate was hydrolyzed using four bacterial species as biocatalysts. In all cases the reaction was stereoselective and isomers bearing an alpha-carbon atom with an (S)-configuration were hydrolyzed preferentially. Also a lack of stereo selectivity toward the phosphorus atom was observed. Hydrolysis of one enantiomeric mixture, namely mixture of (S-p,R) and (R-p,S) configuration afforded enantiomerically pure ethyl (R-p,S)-hydrox (phenyl)methane(P-phenyl)phosphinate, configuration of which was established by X-ray crystallography. The observed H-1 and P-31 NMR chemical shifts of Mosher esters of ethyl hydroxy(phenyl)methane(P-phenyl)phosphinate were correlated with the configurations of both stereogenic centers of all four stereoisomers. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Majewska; Kafarski; Lejczak, Polish Journal of Chemistry, 2005, vol. 79, # 3, p. 561 - 566