Recent advances in asymmetric synthesis with CO2

Carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) is an important and appealing C1 building block in chemical synthesis due to its nontoxicity, abundance, availability and sustainability. Tremendous progress has been achieved in the chemical transformation of CO 2 into high value-added organic chemicals. However, the asymmetric synthesis with CO 2 to form enantioenriched molecules, especially the catalytic process, has lagged far behind. The enantioselective incorporation of CO 2 into organic compounds is highly desirable, as the corresponding chiral products, such as carboxylic acids and amino acids, are common structural units in a vast array of natural products and biologically active compounds. Herein, we discuss recent progress toward the enantioselective incorporation of CO 2 into organic molecules, which mainly rely on three strategies: 1) kinetic resolution or desymmetrization of epoxides with CO 2 to form chiral cyclic carbonates and polycarbonates; 2) nucleophilic attack of O- or N-nucleophiles to CO 2 in tandem with asymmetric C−O bond formation to prepare chiral cyclic carbonates and carbamates; 3) direct enantioselective nucleophilic attack of organometallic reagents to CO 2 with asymmetric C−C bond formation. Finally, challenges and future outlook in this area are also presented.