Catalytic Asymmetric Osmium-Free Dihydroxylation of Alkenes

Abstract Asymmetric dihydroxylation of alkenes is one of the cornerstone reactions in organic synthesis, providing a direct entry to optically active vicinal diols, which are not only a subunit in natural products but also versatile building blocks. In recent years, considerable progress in catalytic asymmetric osmium-free dihydroxylation has been achieved. This short review presents a concise summary of the reported methods of catalytic asymmetric osmium-free dihydroxylation. 1 Introduction 2 Iron-Catalyzed Asymmetric syn-Dihydroxylation of Alkenes 3 Manganese-Catalyzed Asymmetric syn-Dihydroxylation of Alkenes 4 Palladium/Gold Bimetallic Nanocluster-Catalyzed Asymmetric syn-Dihydroxylation of Alkenes 5 Enzyme-Catalyzed Asymmetric anti-Dihydroxylation of Alkenes 6 Amine-Catalyzed Asymmetric Formal anti-Dihydroxylation of Enals 7 Diselenide-Catalyzed anti-Dihydroxylation of Alkenes 8 Molybdenum-Catalyzed Asymmetric anti-Dihydroxylation of Allylic­ Alcohols 9 Phase-Transfer-Catalyzed Asymmetric Dihydroxylation of α-Aryl Acrylates 10 Conclusion