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Asymmetric photochemistry

Making light work

Nature Chemistry volume 6, pages 558–559 (2014)Cite this article

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Science 344, 392–396 (2014)

Cycloadditions are a powerful class of reaction due to their ability to form multiple new bonds and highly substituted centres in a single step. Chemists have achieved impressive stereochemical control over many thermally promoted cycloaddition reactions, usually with chiral catalytic systems, but stereocontrol of cycloadditions promoted by light has proved to be more challenging. This is primarily due to the difficulty of eliminating background reactivity in which reagents that are free from the chiral influence of the catalyst are also photochemically activated and react non-stereoselectively.

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  1. Paul MacLellan
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MacLellan, P. Making light work. Nature Chem 6, 558–559 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nchem.1991

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