Patent ID: 7094926

Claim:
A method of producing an optically active 2-chlorocarboxylic acid chloride represented by the general formula (5): in which R 1 represents a substituted or unsubstituted aryl group containing 6 to 14 carbon atoms or a substituted or unsubstituted aralkyl group containing 7 to 15 carbon atoms, which comprises reacting an optically active 2-hydroxycarboxylic acid represented by the general formula (1): in which R 1 is as defined above, with thionyl chloride and an organic base for chlorination with inversion of the configuration at 2-position, wherein the rate of configurational inversion in the step of chlorination with inversion of configuration is not less than 95% wherein at least one solvent selected from among ether solvents is used as the reaction solvent for chlorination with inversion of configuration.