The unique flavor of (–)-menthol makes it widely used in the fields of food, medicine, and daily chemicals. The continuously growing market demand has driven the rapid development of efficient asymmetric synthetic routes. This review summarizes the mainstream industrial synthesis routes and advances in asymmetric catalysis of (–)-menthol, aiming to outline the development and technological evolution of its synthetic strategies. Currently, three major technical pathways are predominantly employed in industrial production: the Symrise route obtains the target product via chiral resolution; the Takasago process achieves highly selective synthesis of key intermediates through rhodium-catalyzed asymmetric isome- rization. While the BASF route directly affords the crucial intermediate citronellal via rhodium-catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation of citral. Furthermore, synthetic diversity is also provided by reductive strategies using piperitenone as a precursor and transfer hydrogenation approaches catalyzed by organocatalysts. Notably, the recent design of a chiral strong Brønsted acid catalyst by the List group, which enables highly selective cyclization of neral through a spatial confinement effect. This advancement offers a valuable paradigm for developing novel synthetic processes with enhanced step and atom economy.

Key words: (–)-menthol, asymmetric synthesis, chiral fragrances