A novel asymmetric synthesis of a (3R,5S)-dihydroxyhexanoic ester is described. The ester, which serves as the precursor for generating the side chain of rosuvastatin, is synthesized from D-glucose and subsequently coupled, under Wittig olefination conditions, with a phosphonium ylide derived from an appropriately substituted pyrimidine moiety. The coupling results in the formation of a precursor containing all the structural features of rosuvastatin. This precursor is converted into rosuvastatin calcium following a well-established procedure.

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A terse and efficient asymmetric synthesis of tert-butyl 2-(4R, 6R)-6-(2-aminoethyl)-2, 2-dimethyl-1, 3-dioxan-4-yl) acetate is presented, which is a key chiral chain precursor of atorvastatin. This was synthesized from commercially available, non-expensive starting material. The precursor was converted into atorvastatin calcium. The synthesis has the potential for scale-up and could be used to produce atorvastatin calcium on industrial scale.