1,2-Octanediol deracemization by stereoinversion using whole cells

This paper describes the stereoinversion of (R)-1,2-octanediol promoted by Aspergillus niger CCT 1435 and Candida albicans CCT 0776 from Brazilian collections. Racemic 1,2-octanediol can be converted into (S)-1,2-octanediol with 70% isolated yield and 99% ee in 10 h using C. albicans. This is one of the best results in the literature and on-going experiments indicate that the reaction rate can be further accelerated.