Enzyme-catalyzed synthesis of (R)- and (S)-3-heteroaryl-3-hydroxy-propanoic acids and their derivatives

Starting from the racemic 3-benzofuranyl- and 3-benzo[b]thiophenyl-3-hydroxypropanoic acid ethyl esters as substrates, various multistep enzymatic procedures were developed for the efficient synthesis of the corresponding highly enantiomerically enriched (R)- and (S)-3-heteroaryl-3-hydroxypropanoic acids.