Preface
vii
Asymmetric catalysis is one of the cornerstones of modern research in molecular
synthesis. The ability to access enantioenriched organic products has captured the
imagination of scientists since the pioneering studies of Pasteur on the selective
crystallization of tartrate salts. Such chiral control in organic molecules is central to
pharmaceutical development, many areas of materials science, and even the origin
of life. While various strategies have been devised to access organic products with
high enantiopurity, asymmetric catalysis is perhaps the most powerful, wherein
only a trace amount of a chiral catalyst can, under optimal conditions, lead to the
generation of chiral products with high selectivity.
not so much if enantiocontrol can be achieved by chiral catalysts, but how to do so
efficiently and at the same time harness our growing wealth of catalytic reactivity.
In this regard, the use of a single catalyst to activate reagents towards reaction, to
impart chiral control, and to do so with high selectivity, can at times fall short. A
rapidly emerging area of research that offers an avenue to address these challenges
is that of cooperative catalysis. Such cooperative systems offer access to new
asymmetric catalytic reactions wherein both catalysts can be used to activate
reagents. Moreover, the two catalysts can be used to tune chiral induction, whereby
the synergetic influence of the catalysts can often provide a more straightforward
avenue to access high enantioselectivity than that involved in generating often complex
chiral elements in a single catalyst. The combination of robust organocatalysts with
the diverse reactivity of metal catalysts has proven to be a particularly useful
approach to such asymmetric reactions.
This topical collection captures this rapidly growing field, and the design
principles behind the systems. Cordova shows one powerful approach to these
systems involving enamine catalysis. While enamine chemistry has become heavily
exploited in enantioselective additions to carbonyl compounds, performing these in
concert with transition metal catalysts can dramatically expand the diversity of
these transformations, allow the modular tuning of enantioselectivity, and be used
to develop novel cascade reactions. Cozzi describes how Lewis acid metal catalysts
One challenge facing the field in the modern research on asymmetric catalysis is
vii
Asymmetric catalysis is one of the cornerstones of modern research in molecular
synthesis. The ability to access enantioenriched organic products has captured the
imagination of scientists since the pioneering studies of Pasteur on the selective
crystallization of tartrate salts. Such chiral control in organic molecules is central to
pharmaceutical development, many areas of materials science, and even the origin
of life. While various strategies have been devised to access organic products with
high enantiopurity, asymmetric catalysis is perhaps the most powerful, wherein
only a trace amount of a chiral catalyst can, under optimal conditions, lead to the
generation of chiral products with high selectivity.
not so much if enantiocontrol can be achieved by chiral catalysts, but how to do so
efficiently and at the same time harness our growing wealth of catalytic reactivity.
In this regard, the use of a single catalyst to activate reagents towards reaction, to
impart chiral control, and to do so with high selectivity, can at times fall short. A
rapidly emerging area of research that offers an avenue to address these challenges
is that of cooperative catalysis. Such cooperative systems offer access to new
asymmetric catalytic reactions wherein both catalysts can be used to activate
reagents. Moreover, the two catalysts can be used to tune chiral induction, whereby
the synergetic influence of the catalysts can often provide a more straightforward
avenue to access high enantioselectivity than that involved in generating often complex
chiral elements in a single catalyst. The combination of robust organocatalysts with
the diverse reactivity of metal catalysts has proven to be a particularly useful
approach to such asymmetric reactions.
This topical collection captures this rapidly growing field, and the design
principles behind the systems. Cordova shows one powerful approach to these
systems involving enamine catalysis. While enamine chemistry has become heavily
exploited in enantioselective additions to carbonyl compounds, performing these in
concert with transition metal catalysts can dramatically expand the diversity of
these transformations, allow the modular tuning of enantioselectivity, and be used
to develop novel cascade reactions. Cozzi describes how Lewis acid metal catalysts
One challenge facing the field in the modern research on asymmetric catalysis is