Celebrating the 2021 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Reinventing asymmetric organocatalysis

Authors

  • Albert Moyano Universitat de Barcelona

Keywords:

Asymmetric catalysis, organocatalysis, molecular chirality, stereoselective synthesis.

Abstract

The award of the 2021 Nobel Prize in Chemistry to Benjamin List and David MacMillan for the development of asymmetric organocatalysis was not surprising at all. Today, asymmetric organocatalysis is used both in academia and in industry for constructing complex molecules with specific properties from simple materials. This paper discusses sequentially: (i) the importance of asymmetric catalysis, (ii) the differential feature of asymmetric organocatalysis, (iii) the key elements of List’s and MacMillan’s contributions, situated in their historical context, and (iv) the key factors for the success of asymmetric organocatalysis.

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Author Biography

Albert Moyano, Universitat de Barcelona

Albert Moyano va néixer el 1955 a Barcelona. És llicenciat en química per la Universitat de Barcelona (UB, 1978), on també es va doctorar en química orgànica, sota la direcció del doctor Fèlix Serratosa. Després d’una estada postdoctoral a la Universitat de Grenoble (1985-1986) amb el doctor Andrew Greene, on va prendre contacte amb la síntesi asimètrica, tornà a la UB, on és catedràtic des del 2003. Les seves línies de recerca actuals se centren en nous mètodes de catàlisi asimètrica i en l’estudi dels processos de trencament espontani de la simetria especular.

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Issue

No. 21 (2022)

Section

Articles

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