| abstract |
Disclosed is a process for preparing an optical active alkyl ester of alpha -(6-methoxynaphth-2-yl)propionic acid from the racemic modification thereof or from a mixture of the optical isomers thereof by preferential crystallization. The efficiency of the optical resolution can be increased by adding a base which facilitates the racemization. The process comprises dissolving the racemic modification or the optical isomers in an organic solvent such as methanol, ethanol, etc., with or without a base such as sodium methoxide, sodium ethoxide, etc., and seeding seed crystals of one of the optical isomers to effect crystallization for optical resolution. |