The enantiomers of 5-hydroxy-3-(4-methoxyphenyl)-2-(3,4,5-trimethoxyphenyl)-cyclopent-2-en- 1-one, a novel anticancer agent, were separated by derivatisation with caronaldehyde, separation of the resulting diastereoisomers of the corresponding esters by silica gel column chromatography and regeneration of alcohols (S)-5-hydroxy-3-(4-methoxyphenyl)-2-(3,4,5-trimethoxyphenyl)-cyclopent-2 -en-1-one and (R)5-hydroxy-3-(4-methoxyphenyl)-2-(3,4,5-trimethoxyphenyl)-cyclopent-2- en- 1-one under aqueous conditions. The absolute configuration of the enantiomers was determined by H-1 NMR studies of the corresponding Mosher esters. Alternatively, the enantiomers were separated by preparative HPLC to collect the (S)- and (R)-5-hydroxy-3-(4-methoxyphenyl)-2-(3,4,5-trimethoxyphenyl)-cyclopent-2 -en-1-ones with high purity which was comparable with that obtained by the chemical method. The details of these methods have been presented herein. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.