Epoxide hydrolase-catalyzed enantioselective synthesis of chiral 1,2-diols via desymmetrization of meso-epoxides. lzhao@diversa.com.

The discovery, from nature, of a diverse set of microbial epoxide hydrolases is reported. The utility of a library of epoxide hydrolases in the synthesis of chiral 1,2-diols via desymmetrization of a wide range of meso-epoxides, including cyclic as well as acyclic alkyl- and aryl-substituted substrates, is demonstrated. The chiral (R,R)-diols were furnished with high ee's and yields. The discovery of the first microbial epoxide hydrolases providing access to complementary (S,S)-diols is also described.