Highly enantioselective hydrolysis of alicyclic meso-epoxides with a bacterial epoxide hydrolase from Sphingomonas sp. HXN-200: simple syntheses of alicyclic vicinal trans-diols.

Hydrolysis of N-benzyloxycarbonyl-3,4-epoxy-pyrrolidine and cyclohexene oxide with the epoxide hydrolase of Sphingomonas sp. HXN-200, respectively, gave the corresponding vicinal trans-diols in high ee and yield, representing the first example of enantioselective hydrolysis of a meso-epoxide with a bacterial epoxide hydrolase.