Baker’s yeast mediated enantioselective synthesis of the bisabolane sesquiterpenes curcumene, turmerone, dehydrocurcumene and nuciferal

Fermenting baker’s yeast converts the allylic alcohol 6 into enantiomerically pure (S)-(+)-3-(p-tolyl)butan-1-ol 7 which is a useful chiral building block for the synthesis of bisabolane sesquiterpenes. The versatility of this approach is shown in the preparation of (S)-(+)-curcumene, (S)-(+)-turmerone, (S)-(+)-dehydrocurcumene and (E,S)-(+)-nuciferal.