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The progression of chiral anions from concepts to applications in asymmetric catalysis

Nature Chemistry volume 4, pages 603–614 (2012)Cite this article

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Abstract

Despite the tremendous advances of the past four decades, chemists are far from being able to use chiral catalysts to control the stereoselectivity of any desired reaction. New concepts for the construction and mode of operation of chiral catalysts have the potential to open up previously inaccessible reaction space. The recognition and categorization of distinct approaches seems to play a role in triggering rapid exploration of new territory. This Review both reflects on the origins as well as details a selection of the latest examples of an area that has advanced considerably within the past five years or so: the use of chiral anions in asymmetric catalysis. Defining reactions as involving chiral anions is a difficult task owing to uncertainties over the exact catalytic mechanisms. Nevertheless, we attempt to provide an overview of the breadth of reactions that could reasonably fall under this umbrella.

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Figure 1: Representative asymmetric activation modes of a carbonyl group or imine.
Figure 2: Early examples of chiral anions and an example of chiral cations in synthesis.
Figure 3: Early efforts towards asymmetric catalysis using chiral anions.
Figure 4: Some seminal applications of 3,3′-disubstituted BINOL-derived phosphoric acids.
Figure 5: Examples of asymmetric reactions using chiral counterions derived from Brønsted acid catalysts.
Figure 6: Examples of asymmetric metal catalysis with chiral anionic counterions.
Figure 7: Further examples of asymmetric metal catalysis with chiral counterions.
Figure 8: Examples of asymmetric catalysis by chiral anion binding from hydrogen-bonding catalysts.
Figure 9: Examples of the use of chiral anions in asymmetric phase-transfer catalysis.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the University of California, Berkeley, US Department of Energy under contract no. DE-AC02-05CH11231 and NIHGMS (RO1 GM073932) for financial support. R.J.P. is grateful to the European Commission for a Marie Curie International Outgoing Fellowship.

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  1. Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, 94720, California, USA

    Robert J. Phipps, Gregory L. Hamilton & F. Dean Toste

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  1. Robert J. Phipps
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  2. Gregory L. Hamilton
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  3. F. Dean Toste
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Correspondence to F. Dean Toste.

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Phipps, R., Hamilton, G. & Toste, F. The progression of chiral anions from concepts to applications in asymmetric catalysis. Nature Chem 4, 603–614 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nchem.1405

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