The desymmetrisation of (2-hydroxymethyl-oxiranyl)-methanol has been achieved in excellent enantiomeric excess in organic solvents, to access (S)-(+)-(2-(hydroxymethyl) oxiran-2-yl) methyl acetate, for the first time. This work provides a complementary method to the desymmetrisation of the corresponding diacetate in aqueous buffer which yields the (R)- enantiomer and, as such, this new method should enable sequential chemical reactions to ...