Nonenzymatic catalytic deracemization

Abstract

Deracemization, a highly appealing method to synthesize the optically pure compounds, is defined as the conversion of a racemic mixture into a single enantiomer of the same compound in theoretically 100 % yield by increasing the quantity of one enantiomer at the expense of the other. This highlight article focuses on recent progress in catalytic deracemization under pure chemical reaction conditions, excluding biocatalysed deracemization procedures and spontaneous deracemization by crystallization. This survey is divided in two main sections:1) redox-driven deracemization enabled by sequential oxidation/reduction operation or a compatible redox system; 2) photochemical deracemization via selective energy transfer, hydrogen-atom and proton transfer. Especially, the latter has gained a big breakthrough that may open up new avenues for nonenzymatic catalytic deracemization.