Enantioselective synthesis

Enantioselective synthesis, also called asymmetric synthesis, is a form of <a href="/facts/Chemical_synthesis/3KXsVVwC">chemical synthesis</a>. It is defined by <a href="/facts/IUPAC/2AV6myCK">IUPAC</a> as "a <a href="/facts/Chemical_reaction/GpqWlKrz">chemical reaction</a> (or reaction sequence) in which one or more new elements of <a href="/facts/Chirality_(chemistry)/p5a9pftB">chirality</a> are formed in a substrate molecule and which produces the <a href="/facts/Stereoisomer/I3kzlDE8">stereoisomeric</a> (<a href="/facts/Enantiomer/wjPv5J3y">enantiomeric</a> or <a href="/facts/Diastereomer/ReBkFoCP">diastereomeric</a>) products in <a href="/facts/Enantiomeric_excess/TJlYl4gn">unequal amounts</a>."
Put more simply: it is the synthesis of a compound by a method that favors the formation of a specific enantiomer or diastereomer. Enantiomers are stereoisomers that have opposite configurations at every chiral center. Diastereomers are stereoisomers that differ at one or more chiral centers.
Enantioselective synthesis is a key process in modern chemistry and is particularly important in the field of <a href="/facts/Pharmaceuticals/h9mhwWP2">pharmaceuticals</a>, as the different <a href="/facts/Enantiomer/wjPv5J3y">enantiomers</a> or <a href="/facts/Diastereomer/ReBkFoCP">diastereomers</a> of a molecule often have different <a href="/facts/Biological_activity/jJ14jyvc">biological activity</a>.

Enantioselective synthesis open-in-new

Enantioselective synthesis