Chiral oligomers by iterative tandem catalysis

Iterative tandem catalysis is presented as a flexible tool for obtaining chiral macromolecules from racemic or prochiral monomers. Here, we combine lipase-catalyzed ring-opening of -substituted lactones with ruthenium-catalyzed racemization. In a two-pot system, enantioenriched oligomers of 6-methyl--caprolactone were synthesized, which could not have been obtained by enzymatic ring-opening alone. A one-pot experiment proved highly promising in developing a novel route toward enantiopure polyesters