PURPOSE: To readily produce the subject compound having a wide-ranging carbon number in a high yield with a high volumetric efficiency by stereoselectively hydrolyzing a cyclic carbonic acid ester in the presence of hog pancreatic lipase.

CONSTITUTION: Hog pancreatic lipase capable of selectively hydrolyzing the carbonate bond of one isomer in an enantiomer mixture of a cyclic carbonic acid ester (e.g. 4-methyl-1,3-dioxolan-2-one) represented by formula I [Z is CH2, 0, etc.; (m) and (n) are each 0 to 20] or a material containing hog pancreatic lipase is initially allowed to act on the mixture to synthesize an optically active (S)- or (R)-1,2-diol of formula II or III and an optically active carbonic acid ester of formula IV or V. The optically active 1,2-diol is then separated from the optically active carbonic acid ester to obtain one of the objective compounds of formula II and III. Further, the optically active carbonic acid ester is hydrolyzed in the presence of an alkali to obtain the other objective compound of formula II or III.