Supramolecular Assistance, as a seminal part of Supramolecular Chemistry, may be put into action as an aid to the
synthesis of complex covalent species by positioning the components by means of weak interactions, so that
subsequent reactions, deliberately performed on the preassembled species, will lead to the generation of the desired,
otherwise hardly accessible structures. The preorganization is caused by weak interactions such as hydrogen
bonding.
Organocatalysis, which has attracted considerable attention recently, makes use of metal-free, mostly structurally
simple molecules, which are able to catalyze a reaction.
The goal of this project is to combine the concepts of Supramolecular Assistance with those of Organocatalysis in
order to obtain specific, powerful catalysts, which allow for a enantioselective recognition of substrates.
Particularly, the kinetic resolution of racemic 2`,3`-dideoxynucleosides will be aimed at. These compounds, which
are endowed with interesting antiviral properties in many cases, can be prepared via a very short reaction sequence,
which has been developed in our laboratory. 2`,3`-Dideoxynucleosides have recognition units, which are used in
biological systems for the formation of the DNA-strand. The designed catalyst for the separation of enantiomers
consists now of the complementary recognition unit and of a organo-catalytic part. The objective is to obtain
improved, environmentally friendly catalysts by this new, biomimetic approach.