Patent ID: 7217560

Claim:
A process for producing an optically active compound represented by the following formula (I-a): wherein R 1 represents an alkyl group having 1 to 6 carbon atoms and R 2 represents a hydroxyl-protecting group, said hydroxyl-protecting group is selected from the group consisting of a substituted or unsubstituted alkoxycarbonyl group, a substituted or unsubstituted aralkyloxycarbonyl group, a substituted or unsubstituted acyl group, a substituted or unsubstituted alkyl group, a substituted or unsubstituted alkenyl group, a substituted or unsubstituted aralkyl groups, and a silyl group substituted by one or more alkyl group and/or aralkyl group; which comprises: treating a compound, which is represented by the following formula (I): wherein R 1 and R 2 have the same meanings as defined above, with an enzyme having asymmetric ester-hydrolyzing ability obtained from a microorganism, a cultured medium of said microorganism having asymmetric ester-hydrolyzing ability, cells of said microorganism or a processed product of cells of said microorganism to obtain a mixture; and isolating and collecting said optically active compound (I-a) from said mixture; wherein said microorganism is selected from the group consisting of Bacillus bacteria, Microbacterium laevaniformas IFO 14471, Micrococcus bacteria, Pseudomonas bacteria, and Streptomyces bacteria.