Both eantiomers of trans-2-phenylcyclohexanol (1) (Whitesell's auxiliary) have been prepared in a facile three step sequence starting from phenylmagnesium bromide and cyclohexene oxide using Lipase PS30 to facilitate the resolution of the racemic alcohol (10g) by kinetic acetylation reaction on a preparative scale. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsrvier Science Ltd