asymmetric organocatalysis

Asymmetric organocatalysis is a chemical process that uses small, organic molecules as catalysts to create specific enantiomers of a compound. Enantiomers are molecules that are mirror images of each other. This method challenges the idea that only metals or enzymes can act as catalysts in chemical reactions.1

Developed by David W.C. MacMillan, who shared the 2021 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for this work, asymmetric organocatalysis offers several advantages. Organocatalysts are biodegradable, safer, and less expensive than traditional metal catalysts, thereby reducing chemistry's environmental impact. This process is crucial for the efficient creation of new drugs and materials. Asymmetric synthesis, in general, involves chemical reactions that produce unequal proportions of compounds differing in their structural dissymmetry.12