Chiral epoxides are valuable intermediates widely used in pharmaceutical synthesis and functional materials. In this work, herein, we designed and developed a bifunctional chiral catalyst by grafting a photosensitizing unit onto chiral iron complexes of (R,R)−3,4‐diaminopyrrolidine‐derived N4 ligands. Employing molecular oxygen or air as a green oxidant and visible light as the driving force, this catalytic system successfully achieved asymmetric epoxidation of chalcones, furnishing the desired epoxides in high yields with excellent enantiopurity.
Tian et al. (2026) studied this question.