1- (3-Trifluoromethylphenyl)-propan-2-ol enantiomers are useful intermediates for the preparation of the enantiomers of fenfluramine, a known medicament with anorectic activity used in the treatment of obesity. In particular, S-fenfluramine, which is considered the more active enantiomer, or eutomer, (Grice et al. Clin. Exp. Pharmacol. Physiol. 1998, 25,621-23), can be obtained by tosylation of R- (-) 1- (3- trifluoromethylphenyl)-propan-2-ol and subsequent reaction with ethylamine.

A process for the separation of R, S-fenfluramine enantiomers by selective crystallization has been described [Morehead AT jr. et al., Enantiomer 1996,1,63-8]. The kinetic resolution of the amine precursor of fenfluramine by lipase-catalyzed enantioselective acylation has also been effected [Garcia-Urdiales et al., Tetrahedron: Asymmetry, 2000.11,1459- 63]. Both procedures however involve the problem of the recycle of the undesired enantiomer.

EP-A-441160 discloses a process for the preparation of the two fenfluramine isomers, which uses as an intermediate the chiral alcohol obtained by reducing (3-trifluoromethylphenyl) acetone with beer yeast. Said process provides only one of the two enantiomeric alcohols, as a product of the enantioselective reduction, but has the drawback of requiring a high number of steps, so that the final yield in S-fenfluramine is rather low.

It is therefore necessary to develop a simple, advantageous method for

the preparation of fenfluramine precursors in enantiopure form.

Said problem is solved by the process of the invention, which makes use of lipase biocatalysis in an organic solvent to obtain both enantiopure forms of 1- (3-trifluoromethylphenyl)-propan-2-ol (1) enantiomers in high yields.

It has, in fact, been found that some lipases are capable of catalyzing the esterification of (1) with high enantioselectivity, to yield the ester (2) with configuration R and the alcohol (1) with configuration S. \ Lipase ! \ Lipase 9 R'-OCOR-- /OH/OCOR R'-OH Organic solvent CF3 CF3 CF3 ()-1 (+)-1 (-)-2 Said lipases are also capable of enantioselectively catalyzing the alcoholysis of 1- (3-trifluoromethylphenyl)-propan-2-ol racemic ester (2), to give the alcohol (1) with configuration R and the ester (2) with configurationS. ' /OCOR R'-OH Lipase i '/OCOR I/OH R'-OCOR Organic solvent CF3 CF3 CF3 (+)} (+)-2 ( Therefore, the invention provides a process for the preparation of 1- (3- trifluoromethylphenyl)-propan-2-ol enantiomers, which process comprises the esterification of racemic 1- (3-trifluoromethylphenyl)-propan-2-ol with an acylating agent or the alcoholysis of 1- (3-trifluoromethylphenyl)-propan- 2-ol esters of formula wherein R is alkyl or Cl-Cg alkenyl or benzoyl, in the presence of a lipase and the separation of the unreacted S- (+) I- (3-trifluoromethylphenyl)-propan-2-ol or of the corresponding ester respectively from R- (-) 1- (3-trifluoromethylphenyl)-propan-2-ol ester or from R- (-) 1- (3-trifluoromethylphenyl)-propan-2-ol resulting from the esterification or lipase-catalyzed hydrolysis/alcoholysis reactions.

In the case of the resolution through esterification, the acylating agent is preferably selected from the vinyl or isopropenyl alcohols esters, in particular vinyl acetate, vinyl propionate, isopropenyl acetate, vinyl benzoate.

The lipases for use in the process of the invention are commercially available and derive from microorganisms such as Candida antarctica, Mucor miehei or Pseudomonas cepacia.

The esterification reaction is carried out in an organic apolar solvent compatible with the lipase, such as pentane, hexane, heptane, octane, dichloromethane, diethyl ether, diisopropyl ether, t-butyl methyl ether, preferably hexane, at a temperature ranging from 20 to 70°C, for times ranging approximately from 30 min to 10 hours.

In the case of resolution through alcoholysis, the same lipases can be used as well as the same conditions and solvents as described for the esterification, in the presence of a straight alkyl alcohol, preferably n- butanol. Acetic, propionic, benzoic esters and the like, preferably the acetic ester, can be used as racemic esters.

Both in the esterification and in the alcoholysis, the lipases selectively recognize the isomer with configuration R, which can be transformed into ester or hydrolyzed with enantiomeric purity above 98%. The separation of the reaction products is carried out with known procedures.

Racemic 1- (3-trifluoromethylphenyl)-propan-2-ol can be obtained by reduction of 1- (3-trifluoromethylphenyl) acetone, preferably by reaction with lithium aluminium hydride in ethyl ether.

The process of the invention can also be used for the optical resolution of 1- (phenyl)-propan-2-ol or of derivatives substituted at the phenyl ring with hydroxy or methoxy groups, in particular at the meta and para positions.

The following examples illustrate the invention in greater detail.

Example 1 Preparation of (R)-1- (3-trifluoromethylphenyl)-propan-2-ol, (-)- (l) and of (S)-1-(3-trifluoromethylphenyl)-propan-2-ol, (+)-(1), by esterification.

One gram of 1- (3-trifluoromethylphenyl)-propan-2-ol, ()- (1), is dissolved in 100 ml of hexane, then is added with 0.5 g of Novozym (lipase from Candida antarctca) and 1 ml of vinyl acetate. The suspension is then incubated at 45°C in a rotating stirrer (300 rpm). After 1 h, when the reaction mixture contains only two compounds in 1: 1 ratio, the reaction is stopped and the solvent is distilled off under vacuum. The resulting residue is subjected to chromatographic separation on silica gel, eluting with ethyl ether/petroleum ether gradient, to yield 0.627 g of (R)-1- (3- trifluoromethylphenyl)-propan-2-ol acetic ester, (-)- (2), (52% yield, 92% ee) and (S)-1-(3-trifluoromethylphenyl)-propan-2-ol, (+)-(1), 0.470 g (47% yield, >98% ee). The (-)- (2) ester is dissolved in 50 ml of hexane containing 1. 5 ml of butanol and added with 0.5 g of Novozym. The suspension is then incubated at 45°C in a rotating stirrer (300 rpm). After 5 h, the reaction is

stopped to yield (R)-1-(3-trifluoromethylphenyl)-propan-2-ol, (-)-(1), 0.488 g (94% yield, >98% ee).

Example 2 Preparation of (R)-1-(3-trifluoromethylphenyl)-propan-2-ol,(-)-(1) and of (S)-1-(3-trifluoromethylphenyl)-propan-2-ol, (+)-(1), by alcoholysis.

One gram of 1- (3-trifluoromethylphenyl)-propan-2-ol acetic ester ()-2 is dissolved in 100 ml of hexane, which is added with 0.5 g of Novozym (lipase from Candida antarctica) and 1 ml of butanol. The suspension is then incubated at 45°C in a rotating stirrer (300 rpm). After 6 h, when the reaction mixture contains only two reaction products in a 1: 1 ratio, the reaction is stopped and the solvent is distilled off under vacuum. The resulting residue is subjected to chromatographic separation on silica gel eluting with petroleum ether/ethyl ether gradient, to yield 0.480 g of (S)-1- (3-trifluoromethylphenyl)-propan-2-ol acetic ester, (+)- (2) (48% yield, >98% ee) and (R)-1- (3-trifluoromethylphenyl)-propan-2-ol (-)- (1), 0.420 g (51% yield, 96% ee).