MONDAY, 7 MARCH 2011
![From: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pharmaceutic_.jpg](https://bluesci.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/800px-Pharmaceutic_1-300x201.jpg)
Industrial metal catalysts are commonly used in the formation of chiral molecules, but have limited chiral selectivity and can be expensive to produce. Researchers have developed a method in which enantiomerically pure chiral products are produced through the use of a chiral organic catalyst [1] . A large chiral acid catalyses the formation of a five-membered ring from a diene by sterically hindering the formation of the other enantiomer.
The team have also shown that this method can be applied in production of many ‘privileged structures;’ which are parts of molecules known to produce highly effective drugs. However, they indicate that some reactions cannot be achieved with this process.
Written by Jonathan Lawson