a Department of Chemistry, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0002, South Africa b Department of Biochemistry, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0002, South Africa c Department of Chemistry, University of Wales, Bangor, Gwynedd LL57 2UW, UK
Abstract:
A new method for the stereoselective synthesis of the (R,R)-β-hydroxy-α-alkyl fatty acid fragment of mycolic acids, via an asymmetric anti-aldol reaction is reported. The ‘mycolic acid motif’ fragment was prepared in three steps and >98% ee.