Metal Catalysis

Metal Catalysis, Science 9 tags

Ruthenium (BINAP)(Diamine) Catalysts for Asymmetric Hydrogenation of Aryl Ketones

While first-generation (BINAP)RuCl₂ catalysts excel at β-keto esters, they give poor enantioselectivity on unfunctionalized aryl ketones. Noyori’s breakthrough was the …

2026-06-20

Palladium-Catalyzed Enantioselective Cross-Coupling: Atroposelective Suzuki and Asymmetric Heck

While most palladium cross-coupling uses achiral phosphines, a growing family of enantioselective Pd-catalyzed reactions uses chiral diphosphines to construct stereocenters and …

2026-06-12

Copper-Catalyzed Asymmetric Conjugate Addition: Building Chiral Quaternary Centers

Copper-catalyzed asymmetric conjugate addition (ACA) is the method of choice for constructing chiral β-substituted carbonyls and all-carbon quaternary stereocenters. Organozinc, …

2026-06-05

Titanium-Catalyzed Asymmetric Lewis Acid Catalysis: TADDOLate and BINOLate Complexes

Titanium is the dominant Lewis acid metal for asymmetric catalysis, owing to its well-defined octahedral coordination geometry, tunable ligand sphere, and compatibility with a wide …

2026-05-26

Manganese Asymmetric Catalysis: From Mn-Salen Epoxidation to Base-Metal Pincer Catalysts

Manganese occupies a unique position in asymmetric catalysis: it is both the metal of the classic Jacobsen epoxidation catalyst (since 1990) and a leading base-metal candidate in …

2026-05-18

Iridium-Catalyzed Asymmetric Hydrogenation of Unfunctionalized Olefins

Rhodium and ruthenium catalysts dominate asymmetric hydrogenation of functionalized olefins (enamides, enol esters), but they frequently fail on unfunctionalized, tri-substituted, …

2026-05-10

Nickel-Catalyzed Asymmetric Cross-Coupling: Emerging Base-Metal Methodology

Nickel catalysis has emerged as one of the most active frontiers in asymmetric cross-coupling. Nickel’s ability to access both Ni(0)/Ni(II) and Ni(I)/Ni(III) redox cycles, …

2026-04-28

Iron and Cobalt Base-Metal Asymmetric Catalysis: Sustainable Alternatives to Precious Metals

The drive to replace scarce, expensive precious metals (Ru, Rh, Ir, Pd) with earth-abundant base metals (Fe, Co, Mn, Ni, Cu) is reshaping asymmetric catalysis. Iron and cobalt, the …

2026-04-20

Asymmetric C–H Activation with Chiral Palladium and Rhodium Catalysts

Asymmetric C–H activation — the enantioselective functionalization of an unactivated C–H bond — is one of the most active frontiers in organic synthesis. By converting a C–H bond …

2026-04-12

Asymmetric Hydroboration and Hydrosilylation: Chiral Metal Catalysts for Boron and Silicon Installation

Asymmetric hydroboration and hydrosilylation install boron and silicon, respectively, across a C=C or C=O bond with enantiocontrol. The resulting chiral organoboranes and …

2026-04-04

Dual Photoredox–Metal Asymmetric Catalysis: Merging Light and Chiral Metal Catalysis

Dual photoredox–metal catalysis, developed since 2014 by MacMillan, Doyle, and others, merges visible-light photoredox catalysis with transition-metal catalysis to achieve …

2026-03-25