Patent 7816541 was granted and assigned to AJINOMOTO CO., INC. on October, 2010 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
The present invention provides a process for selectively producing an enantiomer at position 4 of an optically active compound in the cross aldol reaction of pyruvic acid and indole-3-pyruvic acid. The process comprises the step of reacting pyruvic acid with indole-3-pyruvic acid in the presence of an optically active α-amino acid containing a secondary amine and a metal ion.