Recent advances in asymmetric synthesis with CO2

Abstract

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is an important and appealing C1 building block in chemical synthesis due to its nontoxicity, abundance, availability and sustainability. Tremendous progress has been achieved in the chemical transformation of CO2 into high value-added organic chemicals. However, the asymmetric synthesis with CO2 to form enantioenriched molecules, especially the catalytic process, has lagged far behind. The enantioselective incorporation of CO2 into organic compounds is highly desirable, as the corresponding chiral products, such as carboxylic acids and amino acids, are common structural units in a vast array of natural products and biologically active compounds. Herein, we discuss recent progress toward the enantioselective incorporation of CO2 into organic molecules, which mainly rely on three strategies: 1) kinetic resolution or desymmetrization of epoxides with CO2 to form chiral cyclic carbonates and polycarbonates; 2) nucleophilic attack of O- or N-nucleophiles to CO2 in tandem with asymmetric C–O bond formation to prepare chiral cyclic carbonates and carbamates; 3) direct enantioselective nucleophilic attack of organometallic reagents to CO2 with asymmetric C–C bond formation. Finally, challenges and future outlook in this area are also presented.