Two chiral catalysts working hand in hand

Chemists at Münster University develop a synthetic method providing access to different stereoisomers of a molecule / Study published in 'Nature Catalysis' Just as our left hand is not superposable to our right hand, the mirror image of certain molecules cannot be overlapped onto it, even when turned or twisted. These two mirror images are referred to by chemists as enantiomers and the molecule is said to be chiral. Chirality, which is a word derived from the ancient Greek word for hand, is important since it is present in our daily lives. For example, the stereoisomers of a molecule - i.e. compounds in which the binding pattern is the same but which differ in the spatial arrangement of the atoms - can produce different effects when interacting with a biological system. The stereoisomers of a drug, for example, can have different or even opposite effects on the body making it crucial to produce certain stereoisomers of a pharmaceutical compound. A central task for chemists is to develop methods that are switchable and can selectively produce one or another stereoisomer, from simple and identical starting materials using tunable reaction conditions. A team of researchers led by Prof. Frank Glorius from the University of Münster has developed a new synthetic method for the targeted synthesis of all four stereoisomers of so-called α,β-disubstituted γ-butyrolactones.