Recent progress towards catalytic asymmetric construction of inherently chiral scaffolds

Abstract

Inherently chiral scaffolds are a unique type of structurally fascinating building blocks, which have found increasing applications in the field of material chemistry, medicinal chemistry, asymmetric synthesis, molecular recognition and assembly. Owing to the steady demand for these chiral entities, numerous efforts have been made on their enantioselective synthesis. Among the plethora of accomplishments reported, the catalytic asymmetric strategy is emerging as one of the most efficient and sustainable approaches. This protocol provides a powerful platform to achieve enantiomerically pure inherently chiral architectures with structural diversity. In this review article, we aim to generalize the booming and remarkable advancements in asymmetric synthesis of inherently chiral calix[n]arenes, pillar[n]arenes, saddle-shaped scaffolds, mechanically interlocked molecules, and prism-like cages under catalyst control, which would offer valuable insights for future research on the rational design of conceptually novel and streamlined asymmetric synthetic systems, thereby expanding the scope/chemical space and improving the added value of inherently chiral molecules.