Going soft (or hard) in asymmetric catalysis?

The quest for highly efficient routes to enantiopure chemicals for use in the pharmaceutical, fine chemical and agrochemical sectors has accelerated greatly in the last decade due to legislative and environmental pressures. Organometallic chemistry offers attractive approaches to the generation of asymmetric catalysts of superlative activity and selectivity, This article summarizes the activities of the author's group in applying the Hard-Soft-Lewis-Acid-Base (HSAB) concept to this area and compares these to other approaches in the current literature.