Chemically catalyzed asymmetric cyanohydrin syntheses.

Over the past two decades, significant advances have been made towards developing chemically catalyzed asymmetric cyanohydrin syntheses. Preparations that were classically highly substrate specific, often using stoichiometric quantities of reagents, have been revolutionized by a new generation of catalysts. Methods currently available rival, and in many cases surpass, enzymatic procedures in terms of synthetic utility, generic applicability, and enantioselectivity. Such protocols are increasingly finding application in the syntheses of both biologically active natural products and therapeutically important synthetic compounds.