Recent Advances in Reductive Desymmetrization of Diketones

Reductive desymmetrization of achiral or meso diketones has attracted considerable attention due to these motifs which play important roles in organic synthesis, pharmaceuticals and functional materials. This review focuses on recent advances in homogeneous reductive desymmetrization of 1,2-, 1,3- and 1,4-diketones, which provides an efficient and practical access to structurally diverse chiral alpha-, beta- or gamma-hydroxy ketone derivatives.