trifluoromethylated organic compounds, especially chiral quaternary alcohols bearing trifluoromethyl group are of important intermediates in drugs, agrochemicals and etc.an efficient epoxidation of β-cf3-β,β-disubstituted unsaturated ketones (6) has been developed with environmental benign hydrogen peroxide as the oxidant and f5-substituted chiral quaternary ammonium salt (1g or 5) derived from...

H ighlighting this issue of PNAS and the forthcoming one* is a Special Feature comprising 8 Perspectives and 44 research articles that cover aspects of asymmetric catalysis, the phenomenon whereby a chiral catalyst promotes the conversion of an achiral substrate to a chiral product with a preference for the formation of one of the mirror image isomers (enantiomers). The demand for chiral compou...

Enzymes are the core for biological transformations in nature. Their structures and functions have drawn enormous attention from biologists as well chemists since last century. The large demand of bioactive molecules pursuit efficiency greenness synthesis spurred rapid development biomimetic chemistry past several decades. Biomimetic asymmetric catalysis, mimicking enzymes, has been recognized ...

Cooperative catalysis has proven to be a powerful strategy for realizing high reactivity and selectivity in asymmetric transformations. A variety of cooperative asymmetric catalysts have been developed over the last two decades. In this feature article, recent advances from our research on cooperative asymmetric catalysis, focusing on dinuclear Schiff base catalysis, are described. Design of di...

The enantioselective oxidative C-H functionalization of tetrahydroisoquinoline derivatives is achieved through the merger of photoredox and asymmetric anion-binding catalysis. This combination of two distinct catalysis concepts introduces a potentially general approach to asymmetric transformations in oxidative photocatalysis.

Asymmetric catalysis is a powerful component of modern synthetic organic chemistry. To further broaden the scope and utility of asymmetric catalysis, new basic concepts for the design of asymmetric catalysts are crucial. Because most chemical reactions involve bond-formation between two substrates or moieties, high enantioselectivity and catalyst activity should be realized if an asymmetric cat...