Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 12, 2026

Development of Heterogeneous Enantioselective Catalysts using Chiral Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs)
Published on: January 17, 2020
Beyond Nature's Chiral Pool: Enantioselective Catalysis in Industry
Abstract:
Enantioselective catalysts produce organic compounds in enantiomerically enriched form. They are highly efficient tools for the synthesis of biologically active materials, such as pharmaceuticals and crop-protection chemicals, in which enantiomeric purity can be critical. The design of chiral ligands is the key to developing new enantioselective catalysts. Three unusual families of ligands have been used to develop practical technology for enantioselective hydrocyanation of olefins, ring-opening of epoxides, and hydrogenation of various compounds.
Related Concept Videos
Chirality in Nature
Reduction of Alkenes: Asymmetric Catalytic Hydrogenation
The metal catalyst used can be either heterogeneous or homogeneous. When hydrogenation of an alkene generates a chiral center, a pair of enantiomeric products is expected to form. However, an enantiomeric excess of one of the products can be facilitated using an enantioselective reaction or an...
Prochirality
Regioselectivity and Stereochemistry of Acid-Catalyzed Hydration
Sharpless Epoxidation
Racemic Mixtures and the Resolution of Enantiomers

