The upside of downsizing: asymmetric trifunctional organocatalysts as small enzyme mimics for cooperative enhancement of both rate and enantioselectivity with regulation.

Small molecule organic catalysts (organocatalysts) are widely used in asymmetric catalysis and synthesis. Compared to their enzymatic and transition-metal counterparts, organocatalysts have advantages in catalytic scope and efficiency but are more limited in proficiency. Chiral trifunctional organocatalysts, in which multiple catalytic motifs act cooperatively on a chiral scaffold, are an emerging class of organocatalysts with improved proficiency. Cooperativity design that enables both enantioselectivity and rate enhancement is essential to developing future generations of organocatalysts in biomimetic asymmetric catalysis.