Enantioselective Organocatalysis and Superacid Activation: Challenges and Opportunities

• Published in: Chemistry : a European journal Vol. 29; no. 35; pp. e202300440 - n/a
• Main Authors: Michelet, Bastien, Martin‐Mingot, Agnès, Rodriguez, Jean, Thibaudeau, Sébastien, Bonne, Damien
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Germany Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 22.06.2023; Wiley-VCH Verlag
• Subjects: Chemical Sciences; Chemistry; Complementarity; Enantiomers; enantioselective synthesis; organocatalysis superacid activation; Substrates; enantioselective synthesis; organocatalysis superacid activation
• ISSN: 0947-6539; 1521-3765
• DOI: 10.1002/chem.202300440

Since the pioneer reports of the groups of Akiyama and Terada on Brønsted acid organocatalysis, this field never stopped growing with the development of ingenious strategies for the activation of challenging poorly reactive substrates. The development of superacidic organocatalysts is an important way to selectively functionalize reluctant electrophiles and other approaches have also emerged such as the combination of Lewis and Brønsted acids as well as the consecutive organocatalysis and superacid activation. This Concept aims to highlight these different strategies and demonstrate their complementarity. If chiral phosphoric acid catalysts are very efficient for the selective activation of basic substrates, such as imines or carbonyl compounds, the functionalization of non‐polarized C=C bonds, such as olefins or arenes, remained a stimulating goal for many years. This Concept article presents different smart strategies that have appeared throughout the years for the efficient functionalization of these challenging substrates.