Organic electrosynthesis can be traced back to the 19th century. The development of electroorganic synthesis has a long history. The combination of asymmetric catalysis and organic electrosynthesis opens up a new avenue for asymmetric organic synthesis. Thus, it has gradually emerged as a crucial approach for chiral compounds synthesis in recent years. Therefore, asymmetric electrosynthesis has garnered major attention of many organic synthetic researchers, and achieved considerable advances. Asymmetric electrosynthesis can transcend the limitations of traditional synthesis, controlling selectivity of the reaction through current and voltage adjustments. Moreover electrochemical synthesis is a novel sustainable methodology by replaced toxic and costly chemicals with renewable electricity. At present, asymmetric electrochemistry has been combined with organocatalysis, metal catalysis, photocatalysis, enzyme catalysis and other fields, showcasing significant potential in the synthesis of drug molecules. However, the asymmetric electrochemistry still presents several challenges to control the chemo-, regio-, and enantioselectivities. In this review, the breakthroughs and advances of asymmetric electrochemistry in the past 20 years are summarized. This overview of the field is organized by reaction types: metal reduction catalysis, metal oxidation catalysis, organic reduction catalysis and organic oxidation catalysis.

Key words: electrochemistry, asymmetric synthesis, asymmetric electrochemistry, metal catalysis, organocatalysis