Asymmetric Catalysis

摘要

Highlighting 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 compounds, often as single enantiomers, has escalated sharply in recent years, driven particularly by the demands of the pharmaceutical industry, but also by other applications, including agricultural chemicals, flavors, fragrances, and materials. Two-thirds of prescription drugs are chiral, with the majority of new chiral drugs being single enantiomers. Although the most obvious applications are bio-related, materials science also relies on the properties imparted by chirality, notably in chiral polymers and liquid crystals. This widespread demand for chiral compounds has stimulated intensive research to develop improved methods for synthesizing such compounds.