The first, and short-step, syntheses of S and R enantiomers of 10-oxo-11(E)-octadecen-13-olide (1) and its seco-acid 2, cytotoxic fattyacid derivatives from corn, were achieved from linoleic acid (3) by the combined use of lipoxygenase-catalyzed asymmetric oxygenation and cobalt porphyrin-catalyzed reduction-oxygenation as key-step reactions.