Asymmetric Cooperative Catalysis

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the introduction of catalytic enantioselective single reactions realized by a multicatalyst system through cooperative catalysis, namely the combination of two or more distinct catalysts to simultaneously activate both nucleophilic and electrophilic reaction partners. Many asymmetric cooperative catalysis mediated reactions have some obvious advantages as compared to monocatalysis, including higher reactivity and stereoselectivity, milder reaction condition, and better atom-utilization, which are vividly shown in the chapter. Today, asymmetric cooperative catalysis by multicatalyst system has become a fast-growing research field and is established as a powerful strategy to achieve ideal asymmetric catalysis. The chapter introduces the latest achievements of this fruitful strategy from 2008 to 2013, to highlight advantages of cooperative catalysis in accelerating the development of new asymmetric reactions of high synthetic value, and to summarize some useful concepts and methods to develop compatible multicatalyst systems for asymmetric cooperative catalysis.