Synthetic strategies and mechanistic studies of axially chiral styrenes

Axially chiral molecules, as a distinct subclass of molecular chirality, exist in a series of biologically active compounds and are put to use extensively in chiral ligands and catalysts. Atropisomeric styrenes are an essential category of axially chiral compounds with constrained rotation of the C(vinyl)-C(aryl) single bond, in which the less rigid framework of styrenes normally induces instability with lower rotational barriers compared with biaryl atropisomers. While lacking attention for a long time, recent advances in this category of unique structures have expanded rapidly, and plenty of means have been developed for chemical preparation of styrenes exhibiting atropisomeric optical activity. In this review, we expound on the synthetic strategies and some corresponding mechanistic studies of axially chiral styrenes, aiming to give scientists who are interested in this topic inspiration and helpful advice.