Organocatalysis Lost: Modern Chemistry, Ancient Chemistry, and an Unseen Biosynthetic Apparatus

Since the year 2000 there has been explosive growth in an area of catalytic asymmetric synthesis now known as organocatalysis, catalysis mediated solely by small organic molecules, and this chemistry not only provides for fascinating and efficient syntheses of chiral molecules but may serve to explain the emergence of homochirality in the prebiotic world.

Abstract

One enigma leads in three directions: The Hajos–Wiechert reaction presented an enigma that went unsolved for three decades. With the unravelling of this enigma, organocatalysis plays a major role in the development of efficient catalytic asymmetric methodologies. The mechanisms of organocatalysis also shed light on the origin of homochirality essential for life and provide clues to yet-to-be-discovered biosynthetic mechanisms at work in living organisms today.