Asymmetric Autocatalysis Initiated By Crystal Chirality Of Achiral Compounds

Chiral crystallization of achiral compounds is attracting much attention, especially in areas of chirality research such as chiral separation and generation. Spontaneous chiral crystallization generates chirality and is a possible origin of homochirality. Although various organic and inorganic achiral compounds form chiral crystals, there are few examples of the use of this chirality for the control of enantioselective reactions of organic compounds. In this chapter, we describe how asymmetric autocatalysis can successfully utilize crystal chirality of achiral organic compounds to afford highly enantioenriched products with the absolute structure corresponding to the chirality of the crystals used.