Enzymatic resolution of albicanol and its application to the synthesis of (−)-copalic acid

The optical resolution of racemic albicanol (rac-1) based on the lipase-catalyzed transesterification by using vinyl myristate as an acyl donor afforded (8aR)-1 (99% ee) in 43% yield and (8aS)-1 (99% ee) in 37%. E value of the enzymatic reaction was 56.7 which was superior to that of the reported value (E = 25) by using isopropenyl acetate as an acyl donor. As the synthetic application of obtained (8aR)-1, (−)-copalic acid ((8aR)-3) and (−)-copalol ((8aR)-4) were synthesized from (8aR)-1 in 35% and 34% total yield, respectively.