Chemo-Enzymatic Synthesis of Oligoglycerol Derivatives

A cleaner and greener method has been developed and used to synthesize 14 different functionalized oligomer derivatives of glycerol in moderate 29%-39% yields over three steps. After successive regioselective enzymatic acylation of the primary hydroxyl groups, etherification or esterification of the secondary hydroxyl groups and chemoselective enzymatic saponification, the target compounds can efficiently be used as versatile building blocks in organic and supramolecular chemistry.