Catalytic Enantioselective α-Chlorination of Carbonyl Compounds

Stereoselective construction of chlorinated chiral carbon centers is a highly valuable operation because the resulting chiral chlorides serve as versatile intermediates for producing many chiral molecules by S(N)2-type displacement with inversion of stereochemistry. Despite the synthetic utility of chiral alkyl chlorides, catalytic methods for achieving enantioselective chlorination were only developed in the last ten years. This Focus Review covers the progress of catalytic asymmetric alpha-chlorination of carbonyl compounds over the last decade. Some stereospecific transformations of the resulting alkyl chlorides are also introduced.