Scale-Up of a Recombinant Pig Liver Esterase-Catalyzed Desymmetrization of Dimethyl Cyclohex-4-ene-cis-1,2-dicarboxylate

A recombinant isoenzyme of pig liver esterase was used for the highly enantioselective desymmetrization of dimethyl cyclohex-4-ene-cis-1,2-dicarboxylate. The selected recombinant esterase showed a significant advantage in enantioselectivity over the commonly used esterase from the mammalian source. The process was scaled up to yield 265 g of product with a simplified pH control, and the target molecule was obtained with an enantiopurity of >99.5% ee.