A practical procedure has been developed for the dynamic kinetic resolution of 1,2-diarylet
hanols. This procedure employs a highlyenantioselective lipase from
Pseudomonas stutzeri (trade name, lipase TL) as the resolution catalyst and a ruthenium complex as the racemizationcatalyst. Sixteen 1,2-diarylet
hanols have been efficiently resolved to provide their acetyl derivatives with good yields (95-97%) and highenantiomeric excesses (96-99%).