Issue 58, 2020

Aldehyde catalysis – from simple aldehydes to artificial enzymes

Abstract

Chemists have been learning and mimicking enzymatic catalysis in various aspects of organic synthesis. One of the major goals is to develop versatile catalysts that inherit the high catalytic efficiency of enzymatic processes, while being effective for a broad scope of substrates. In this field, the study of aldehyde catalysts has achieved significant progress. This review summarizes the application of aldehydes as sustainable and effective catalysts in different reactions. The fields, in which the aldehydes successfully mimic enzymatic systems, include light energy absorption/transfer, intramolecularity introduction through tether formation, metal binding for activation/orientation and substrate activation via aldimine formation. Enantioselective aldehyde catalysis has been achieved with the development of chiral aldehyde catalysts. Direct simplification of aldehyde-dependent enzymes has also been investigated for the synthesis of noncanonical chiral amino acids. Further development in aldehyde catalysis is expected, which might also promote exploration in fields related to prebiotic chemistry, early enzyme evolution, etc.

Graphical abstract: Aldehyde catalysis – from simple aldehydes to artificial enzymes

Article information

Article type
Review Article
Submitted
01 Aug. 2020
Accepted
16 Sept. 2020
First published
25 Sept. 2020
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY-NC license

RSC Adv., 2020,10, 35433-35448

Aldehyde catalysis – from simple aldehydes to artificial enzymes

Z. Yuan, J. Liao, H. Jiang, P. Cao and Y. Li, RSC Adv., 2020, 10, 35433 DOI: 10.1039/D0RA06651F

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