writer：Yu-Nan Qin, Chen Zhang, Quan Li*, Guang-Yan Du*
keywords：molecular motor
source：期刊
specific source：Synthesis, 2021, DOI: 10.1055/a-1577-7850
Issue time：2021年

Light-driven unidirectional molecular motor has gained enormous attention since the pioneering work by Prof. Ben L. Feringa in 1999 and it holds great promise in next generation smart materials. The intrinsic feature of point chirality and helicity of these motor molecules requires efficient strategies to access their optically pure form especially when chirality-sensitive materials are fabricated. In this short review, we will summarize synthetic strategies to access optically pure first and second generation molecular motors. Generally, three strategies will be discussed including direct asymmetric synthesis, chiral auxiliary method and resolving agent aided chiral separation. We expect this review can ignite the enthusiasm of synthetic chemists to address very fundamental but unavoidable synthetic questions for chiral alkene based molecular motors concerning their large scale applications.