Chiral phosphines are one of the most commonly used ligands in assymetric metal catalysis for the synthesis of various useful drugs and pharmaceuticals. Have you ever wondered how to obtain them? Most of the so-called chiral phosphines are C-stereogenic, which means that the chirality is located at a site other than the P-center. Many of them are currently commercially available. However, the true P-chiral phosphines, in which the chirality is found in the P-center itself, are the most difficult to synthesize in the laboratory because the formation of the C-P bond cannot be controlled. One of the best known methods for C-P bond formation is a metal-catalyzed C-P cross-coupling reactions. However, the control of chirality, i.e. the formation of a single chiral enantiomer, is challenging.
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Source: Phys.org