Enantioselective synthesis

Enantioselective synthesis produces one enantiomer of a chiral product in preference to its mirror image, using a chiral influence to control stereochemistry.

Chiral catalyst: A catalyst whose chiral structure makes reaction pathways leading to different enantiomers energetically unequal. Its three-dimensional environment can favor formation of one enantiomer.
Chirality: The geometric property of an object that makes it distinguishable from its mirror image by rotation and translation alone. Enantiomers are the mirror-image forms of a chiral molecule.
Sharpless asymmetric epoxidation: A titanium-catalyzed reaction that converts allylic alcohols into enantioenriched epoxides using a chiral tartrate ligand. It is a landmark method for setting stereochemistry in oxygen-containing building blocks.
Racemic synthesis: A synthesis that produces equal amounts of two enantiomers, yielding a racemic mixture. It is the unselective outcome that enantioselective methods seek to avoid.
William S. Knowles: An American chemist who developed chiral transition-metal catalysts for asymmetric hydrogenation. His catalytic work established an influential route to enantioselective synthesis.
Transition-state theory: A model that relates reaction rates to the energies of transition states along reaction pathways. Unequal transition-state energies explain why one enantiomer forms faster.
Enantiomer: One of a pair of stereoisomers that are nonsuperimposable mirror images of each other. These are the competing products whose proportions define enantioselectivity.
Noyori asymmetric hydrogenation: A family of catalytic hydrogenations using chiral ruthenium complexes to reduce prochiral substrates selectively. It demonstrates efficient enantioselective production of chiral alcohols and amines.
Kinetic resolution: A method that separates enantiomers by reacting one enantiomer of a racemate faster than the other. Unlike selective product formation, it enriches material by consuming one enantiomer preferentially.
Ryoji Noyori: A Japanese chemist known for developing practical asymmetric catalysis, including chiral ruthenium hydrogenation catalysts. His catalysts made selective hydrogenation broadly useful in synthesis.

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