ABSTRACT
The new asymmetric center will often be referred to as a stereogenic center, denoting that it has the potential to give rise to stereochemistry. A mathematical model has been proposed, with supporting experimental evidence, that high enantiomeric excesses can be obtained for a reaction where kinetic resolution is coupled with an initial asymmetric synthesis. The amino and carboxylic acid groups can be transformed into a wide range of other functional groups as well as aiding the formation of carbon–carbon bonds. Removal of the “chiral auxiliary” then provides the product enriched in one enantiomer. However, this type of approach introduces two extra steps: the attachment and removal of the auxiliary. A chiral center from a starting material can be transferred to another part of the molecule. This new chiral center then provides control for a stereoselective reaction or the chirality at the center of the original starting material can be reestablished.
