Pursuing practical elegance in chemical synthesis

Abstract

In the 21st century, the field of chemistry will face more than just academic challenges. Indeed, our ability to devise straightforward and practical chemical syntheses is indispensable to the survival of our species.

Heterogeneous Multifunctional Catalysts for Tandem Processes: An Approach toward Sustainability

“…To address these issues, heterogenization of the metals constitutes a useful alternative for the development of metal-catalyzed tandem reactions in the easiest way possible. [7] The use of robust heterogeneous catalysts, which are active under mild conditions with few or no additives, offers plentiful advantages, including 1) the removal of the catalyst by filtration at the end of the reaction; 2) the absence of contaminated products and solvents with the transition metal which reduces environmental concerns; 3) recycling of the catalyst in another reaction for economic viability; and 4) stabilization of metallic particles by the support thus avoiding the use of a ligand and reducing its sensitivity toward moisture and oxygen.…”

Green Chemical Technologies

“…A BINAP Rh complex is used in the commercial production of 1-menthol to enantioselectively hydrogenate an alkene bond (Lancaster, 2002). Ru BINAP complexes can be used in asymmetric reductions of carbonyl groups (Noyori, 2005;Noyori and Hashiguchi, 1997).…”

The Ion Tag Strategy as a Route to Highly Efficient Organocatalysts for the Direct Asymmetric Aldol Reaction

“…Paraphrasing Noyori, chemists must pursue "practical elegance" in developing new synthetic protocols, where "practical" has to be read as efficient and sustainable at once. [1] A biomimetic approach to this challenge is proposed by organocatalysis, [2] which aims to mimic the action of enzymes with small organic molecules, and, possibly, perform reactions in water with comparable efficiency and stereoselectivity. At its outset, organocatalysis provided enantioselective reaction protocols that that took place in organic solvents, only.…”