The development of asymmetric functionalization of inert C—H bond is one of the most popular research topics in organic synthesis, which provides innovative and efficient pathways to access chiral functional molecules. Among which, the directing group-assisted transition metal-catalyzed asymmetric C—H bond functionalization represents an important branch in this field. In comparison with the traditional directing groups, the oxidizing directing groups can not only govern the site-selectivity in C—H activation but also serve as an internal oxidant to drive the catalytic process, which enables the formation of diverse heterocycles and other products via C—H activation in the absence of any external oxidant. In the last decade, the emergence of diverse new chiral metal catalysts has boosted the rapid development of asymmetric C—H bond functionalization using oxidizing directing groups, constituting an important method to assemble the value-added chiral molecules. The advance of asymmetric C—H bond functionalization using oxidizing directing groups since 2012 is summaried, the limitation in this field is also analyzed and the outlook of this area is prospected.

Key words: oxidizing directing group, C—H bond functionalization, asymmetric catalysis, transition metal catalysis, chiral cyclopentadiene ligand