Abstract

The benefits of heterogeneous catalysis over its homogeneous counterpart have made it the dominant approach in current chemical production, accounting for approximately 90% by volume. However, heterogeneous asymmetric catalysis is not the method of choice for asymmetric synthesis, highlighting the need for innovative solutions. Our approach to heterogeneous asymmetric catalysis uses alginates, a family of polysaccharides extracted from brown algae, as cornerstone. In the presence of multivalent metal ions, alginates form gels well posited for catalytic applications. We have used these gels as supports for chiral catalysts, and as intrinsically chiral catalytic materials, thus “harvesting” alginates chirality, for catalytic enantioselective reactions.