Lipase/Oxovanadium Co-Catalyzed Dynamic Kinetic Resolution of Propargyl Alcohols: Competition between Racemization and Rearrangement.

Quantitative conversion of racemic propargyl alcohols into optically active propargyl esters with up to 99% ee has been achieved by lipase/oxovanadium co-catalyzed dynamic kinetic resolution, which combines the lipase-catalyzed enantioselective esterification of the racemic substrates and the in situ racemization of the remaining enantiomers. The success is owed to our discovery of a magic solvent, (trifluoromethyl)benzene, that accelerated the racemization while sufficiently suppressing the common oxovanadium-catalyzed rearrangement of propargyl alcohols to irreversibly produce enals.