The present invention provides an industrially safe, easily operable
process for producing an optically active epoxy alcohol derivative useful
as an intermediate for pharmaceuticals from inexpensively available
materials, and also provides a novel halohydrin derivative serving as an
important intermediate for the epoxy alcohol derivative. Furthermore, the
present invention provides a process for producing an intermediate for a
triazole antifungal agent by allowing a halohydrin to react with a
triazole sulfonamide, the process including a small number of steps. A
process for producing an optically active epoxy alcohol derivative
includes allowing an optically active .alpha.-substituted propionate
derivative to react with a haloacetic acid derivative in the presence of
a base to prepare an optically active haloketone derivative, allowing the
resulting haloketone derivative to react with an aryl metal compound to
stereoselectively prepare a halohydrin derivative, eliminating a
substituent for the hydroxy group of the halohydrin derivative, and
performing epoxidation with a base. Furthermore, a process for producing
an intermediate for a triazole antifungal agent includes allowing a
halohydrin derivative to react with a triazole sulfonamide, the process
including a small number of steps.