The Development of Organocatalytic Asymmetric Reduction of Carbonyls and Imines Using Silicon Hydrides

Abstract The asymmetric reduction of prochiral ketones and ketimines represents one of the most important and practical chemical transformations toward the synthesis of valuable chiral alcohols and amines. Among the existing strategies, organocatalyzed asymmetric reduction of carbonyls and imines using silicon hydrides is attractive due to low‐cost, chemical stability, and easy handling in experiments. In this review, we wish to highlight the recent progress made in the past fifteen years in this field. Four catalytic systems of different activation modes are presented and discussed in detail. We aim to help shed light on common features that enable highly enantioselective silicon hydride reductions through organocatalysis and provide the design principles for the development of more effective catalytic systems.