Atroposelective transformation of axially chiral (hetero)biaryls. From desymmetrization to modern resolution strategies

This tutorial review provides a systematic overview of the available methodologies for the atroposelective transformation of (heterobiaryl)biaryl precursors toward the synthesis of enantiomerically enriched products and the conceptual aspects associated to each type of transformation. Depending on the presence or absence of symmetry in the starting material and the participation of racemization or dynamization events along the process, several strategies have been developed, including desymmetrization, classical kinetic resolution (KR), dynamic kinetic resolution (DKR) and dynamic kinetic asymmetric transformation (DYKAT). Seminal contributions and a handful of selected examples are discussed to illustrate the potential of these synthetic tools.