Green Chemistry Meets Asymmetric Organocatalysis: A Critical Overview on Catalysts Synthesis

• Published in: ChemSusChem Vol. 14; no. 14; pp. 2785 - 2853
• Main Authors: Antenucci, Achille, Dughera, Stefano, Renzi, Polyssena
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Germany Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 22-07-2021; John Wiley and Sons Inc
• Subjects: Catalysis; catalyst synthesis; Catalysts; Chemical synthesis; E factor; Green chemistry; organocatalysis; Review; Reviews; Scaffolds; sustainability; organocatalysis; green chemistry; sustainability; E factor; catalyst synthesis
• ISSN: 1864-5631; 1864-564X; 1864-564X
• DOI: 10.1002/cssc.202100573

Can green chemistry be the right reading key to let organocatalyst design take a step forward towards sustainable catalysis? What if the intriguing chemistry promoted by more engineered organocatalysts was carried on by using renewable and naturally occurring molecular scaffolds, or at least synthetic catalysts more respectful towards the principles of green chemistry? Within the frame of these questions, this Review will tackle the most commonly occurring organic chiral catalysts from the perspective of their synthesis rather than their employment in chemical methodologies or processes. A classification of the catalyst scaffolds based on their E factor will be provided, and the global E factor (EG factor) will be proposed as a new green chemistry metric to consider, also, the synthetic route to the catalyst within a given organocatalytic process.
E factor under scrutiny: Do you know which is the impact on the overall process of the organocatalyst synthesis? Within the framework of the green chemistry principles, this Review analyses the synthetic routes towards some of the most important organocatalyst scaffolds. The introduction of a new chemistry metric, the EG factor, will provide an idea of the actual impact of the catalyst synthesis within the overall organocatalytic process.