Recent advances in catalytic asymmetric synthesis of allenes

Abstract

Allene moieties with axial chirality are featured in many natural products with biological activities. They also serve as unique building blocks in organic synthesis and as chiral ligands/catalysts. In recent years, chemists have made great efforts in the synthesis of chiral allenes, in particular with asymmetric catalytic methods. Significant progress has been achieved, although it still remains a challenging task. In this minireview article, we summarize the recent advances in the catalytic asymmetric synthesis of allenes.