Recent Advances in Asymmetric Synthesis of P-Chiral Phosphine Oxides

Enantioenriched organophosphates are ubiquitous in a large array of chiral ligands, chiral catalysts and bioactive molecules. Over the past few decades, synthetic chemists have contributed substantial efforts to develop the efficient methodologies for the construction of P-chiral phosphine derivatives, considerably enriching the arsenal of chiral organophosphine ligands and the promising pharmaceutical molecules. Among them, a number of works are focused on the synthesis of P-chiral phosphine oxides because it is more stability than trivalent phosphines and the convenient reduction. In view of the rapid progress in this area and the currently available reviews, the progress in the last three years is summarized and discussed, namely from 2020 to 2022. The description of the synthetic strategy is divided into five segments, involving asymmetric induction, catalytic desymmetrization, catalytic asymmetric synthesis, catalytic kinetic resolution or dynamic kinetic asymmetric transformation, and enzyme catalysis.

Automated summary

Enantioenriched organophosphates play important roles in chiral ligands, catalysts, and bioactive molecules. Synthetic chemists have made significant efforts to develop efficient methodologies for constructing P-chiral phosphine derivatives, leading to a wide range of chiral organophosphine ligands and promising pharmaceutical molecules. This review summarizes and discusses the progress in the synthesis of P-chiral phosphine oxides from 2020 to 2022, focusing on asymmetric induction, catalytic desymmetrization, catalytic asymmetric synthesis, catalytic kinetic resolution or dynamic kinetic asymmetric transformation, and enzyme catalysis.