Chiral Inorganic Materials for Asymmetric Catalysis: Mechanistic Origins and Design Principles

• • Chiral inorganic catalysts demonstrate superior thermal and chemical robustness compared to molecular catalysts, withstanding harsh conditions that typically degrade organometallic complexes, as evidenced by the stability of chiral Pt-Ir alloys in enantioselective electrosynthesis (Nat Commun, 2021, 12: 1314). • • The chiral-induced spin selectivity (CISS) effect enables spin-polarized catalysis, offering a novel mechanism for enantiocontrol that is independent of traditional ligand-substrate interactions, potentially achieving high enantiomeric excess (ee) values in oxidation reactions. • • Photoinduced asymmetric catalysis using chiral nanoparticles, such as those reported for site-selective proteolytic cleavage of plant viruses (Nat Catal, 2022, 5: 694), demonstrates the integration of light activation with chiral selectivity, enabling spatiotemporal control of catalytic processes. • • Chiral nanozyme-like catalysts, exemplified by mesoporous encapsulated chiral nanogold (Angew Chem Int Ed, 2018, 57: 16791), combine enzyme-like activity with inorganic robustness, achieving high turnover numbers and enantioselectivity in aqueous media, which is critical for pharmaceutical synthesis.