The Origins of Enantioselective Organocatalysis and the 2021 Nobel Prize in Chemistry

Any advanced society requires new molecules and materials to be used as drugs, agrochemicals, energy production and storage and countless other applications. This, in turn, requires the development of new methods for synthesis. The 2021 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Professors Benjamin List and David MacMillan “for the development of asymmetric organocatalysis”. This is a relatively new tool for enantioselective organic synthesis that has undergone an explosive growth since its introduction in 2000 by the awardees and serves as an alternative to the more traditional catalytic procedures based on the use of enzymes and metal-based catalysts.