Transition-metal-catalyzed atroposelective synthesis of axially chiral styrenes

Axially chiral styrenes, a type of atropisomer analogous to biaryls, have attracted great interest because of their unique presence in natural products and asymmetric catalysis. Since 2016, a number of methodologies have been developed for the atroposelective construction of these chiral skeletons, involving both transition metal catalysis and organocatalysis. In this feature article, we aim to provide a comprehensive understanding of recent advances in the asymmetric synthesis of axially chiral styrenes catalyzed by transition metals, integrating scattered work with different catalytic systems together. This feature article is cataloged into five sections according to the strategies, including asymmetric coupling, enantioselective C-H activation, central-to-axial chirality transfer, asymmetric alkyne functionalization, and atroposelective [2+2+2] cycloaddition.