Recent advances in transition-metal-catalysed asymmetric coupling reactions with light intervention

Abstract

Transition metal-catalysed asymmetric coupling has been established as a robust tool for constructing complex organic molecules. Although this area has been extensively studied, the development of efficient protocols to construct stereogenic centres with excellent regio- and enantioselectivities is highly desirable and remains challenging. Asymmetric transition metal catalysis with light intervention provides a practical alternative strategy to current methods and considerably expands the synthetic utility as a result of abundant feedstocks and mild conditions. This tutorial review comprehensively summarizes the recent advances in transition-metal-catalysed asymmetric coupling reactions with light intervention; in particular, a concise analysis of substrate scope and the mechanistic scenarios governing stereocontrol is discussed.