Transition-Metal-Catalyzed Enantioselective Synthesis of Compounds with Non-Centrochirality

Although central chirality based on stereogenic carbon atoms is arguably the most common chiral element in organic chemistry, chiral molecules devoid of stereogenic centers play important roles in stereoselective organic transformations. In spite of the usefulness of these chiral compounds with. 'non-centrochirality' in asymmetric synthesis, enantiomerically enriched forms (scalemic forms) of these compounds are primarily obtained by rather classical methods. Examples of catalytic enantioselective induction of such non-centrochirality have been extremely rare and this is thus still a developing area in synthetic organic chemistry. In this review article, transition-metal-catalyzed enantioselective preparations of various non-centrochiral compounds, which include compounds with planar, axial, or helical chirality, are surveyed.