A process is described for the synthesis of kilogram quantities of homochiral 4-silyloxycyclopentenone (R)-I, a key intermediate useful for the synthesis of a plurality of prostaglandin analog drugs.Cyclopentenone (R)-I was synthesized in 14 isolated steps from furfural.Key steps in the synthesis include a Wittig reaction, Piancatelli rearrangement, and an enzymic resolution featuring in situ recycling of the undesired enantiomer, furnishing the desired homochiral alc. in ≥99.5% ee.As a retort to the unsatisfactory co-formation of about 8% at best of the trans-olefin in the Wittig reaction, a change to the order of several steps and the identification of a recrystallizable, amine salt derivative, II, allowed the unwanted isomer to be controlled to as low as 0.2%.