Chiral catalysts are catalysts containing chiral C atoms, which play an important role in some synthetic reactions. Chiral catalysts are functional molecules that contain chiral groups and can participate in chemical reactions through catalysis and transfer their chirality to the target products through some actions. Chiral catalysts can be divided into two categories, one is the classical metal complex, and the other is the popular organic small molecule catalyst.
Chiral catalysts are the core scientific problem in the research of chiral catalysis. At present, the research on chiral catalysts lacks systematic rational guidance and laws to follow. The development of chiral catalysts and highly efficient catalytic reactions mostly relies on experience, luck, and unremitting efforts. Therefore, to achieve high selectivity and efficiency of chiral catalytic reaction, it is necessary to start from basic research and solve this challenging problem through innovation of theory, concept, and method.