Enantioselective Catalytic Synthesis of Inherently Chiral Calixarenes

Abstract

Since the introduction of the concept of inherent chirality by Böhmer, an important part of research focused on the asymmetric synthesis of calixarene macrocycles. However, long synthetic procedures and tedious separation strategies hampered the application of this technology in many topics of organic chemistry, including enantioselective molecular recognition and catalysis. Very recently, a new generation of enantioselective catalytic methodologies has been reported, able to provide highly functionalized, inherently chiral calixarenes in a straightforward manner. In this review, we will discuss these new catalytic methods and the versatile properties of such macrocycles that call for potential applications in many areas of science.

Keywords: Asymmetric catalysis; Calix[4]arenes; Heteracalix[4]arenes; Inherent chirality; Macrocycles.