SIMETRIA MOLECULAR E REAçõES DE DESSIMETRIZAçãO EM SíNTESE ORGâNICA

MOLECULAR SYMMETRY AND DESYMMETRIZATION REACTIONS IN ORGANIC SYNTHESIS. Molecular Symmetry has found several applications in Organic Chemistry. The aim of this article is to showcase its relevance as a tool for synthetic planning. Natural Products and synthetic compounds with pharmaceutical applications were selected to highlight desymmetrization reactions that make use of organocatalysis, biocatalysis or by transition metals. The recognition of structural patterns in retrosynthetic analysis is discussed for compounds that exhibit explicit or hidden symmetry. Limitations of the aforementioned strategies are also described, as well as the untapped potential, challenges and frontiers yet to be explored regarding these concepts.