Enantioselective catalysis

Enantioselective Catalysis involves the catalytic, selective, and reproducible generation of a given enantiomer of a chiral product from achiral reactants. The concept of enantioselective catalysis simply transcends the boundaries of organic chemistry. Enantioselective synthesis, also named asymmetric synthesis, is a form of chemical synthesis. Put more simply: it is the combination of a compound by a method that supports the production of a specific enantiomer or diastereomer. Enantiomers are stereoisomers that have different configurations at each chiral center.

Enantioselective catalysis has become such a successful research area, that it is somewhat challenging to offer many new or not oft-repeated common words of introduction. Nevertheless, some basic descriptions are in order. Enantioselective catalysis entails the catalytic, selective, and reproducible generation of a given enantiomer of a chiral product from achiral reactants. Each generation of a non-racemic output from a rigorously achiral or racemic chiral catalyst would, when replicated an arithmetical number of times, provide equal measures of each enantiomer. This does not meet the reproducibility principle in the earlier definition of enantioselective catalysis.