The Preparation of Optically Pure 3-Hydroxyalkanoic Acid. The Enantioface-differentiating Hydrogenation of the C=O Double Bond with Modified Raney Nickel. XXXVII.

The enantioface-differentiating hydrogenation of methyl 3-oxoalkanoate (CH3(CH2)nCOCH2COOCH3, n=0, 6, 8, 10, 12) over the (R,R)-tartaric acid–NaBr–modified Raney nickel catalyst ((R,R)-TA–NaBr–MRNi) gave methyl (R)-3-hydroxyalkanoate (CH3(CH2)nCH(OH)CH2COOCH3, n=0, 6, 8, 10, 12) in an average optical yield of 85%. After the methyl ester had been converted to dicyclohexylammonium salt of 3-hydroxyalkanoic acid, the salt was recrystallized three times from acetonitrile and then treated with acid to give optically pure (R)-3-hydroxyalkanoic acid (CH3(CH2)nCH(OH)CH2COOH, n=0, 6, 8, 10, 12) in a reasonable yield. From the hydrogenation product with (S,S)-TA–NaBr–MRNi, optically pure (S)-3-hydroxyalkanoic acid was obtained by the same process as above.