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Article
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Organic catalysts
Article By:
Dalko, Peter I. Ecole Supérieure de Physique et de Chimie Industrielles, Paris, France.
Last reviewed:2003
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.YB031190
The use of organic molecules to catalyze chemical reactions is emerging as a useful method in organic synthesis. The catalytic activity of nitrogen-containing aliphatic and heterocyclic organic compounds has been exploited since the early days of chemistry, for example, in acylation reactions, hydrocyanations, aldol condensations, cycloaddition reactions, hydroborations, and phase-transfer reactions. The application of organic catalysts to asymmetric synthesis, where the reaction predominantly leads to the formation of one of the two possible enantiomers (l or d), is much less common. Enantiomers that are not superimposable on their mirror images are called chiral.
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