Recent Advances in Asymmetric Catalysis in Flow

Asymmetric catalysis in flow has been attracting much attention very recently because of the potential advantages over its batchwise counterpart, such as high-throughput screening and synthesis, easy automation with the integration of on-demand reaction analysis, little or no reaction workup, and potential long-term use of the catalysts in the case of heterogeneous catalysis. Homogeneous asymmetric catalysis performed in a microreactor has demonstrated successful examples in fast catalyst screening, integrated inline/onlineanalysis, microflow photocatalysis, multistep transformation with unstable intermediates, and potential for lower catalyst loading or homogeneous catalyst recylcing. Since heterogeneous asymmetric catalysis serves as a better way than its homogeneous analogue for catalyst separation and recycling, this Review Article summarizes recent development via different catalyst immobilization methods, such as covalent support, a self-supported method, an adsorption method, and H-bonding, electrostatic or ionic interaction, and nonconventional media, as well. In addition, biocatalysis, including enzyme-catalyzed kinetic resolution and transformation, in flow will be discussed either in homogeneous or heterogeneous mode.