Atroposelective organocatalytic nucleophilic aromatic substitution for C–O bond construction

Nature Catalysis, Published online: 13 April 2026; doi:10.1038/s41929-026-01522-x Catalytic access to axially chiral diaryl ethers remains limited by the difficulty of enantioselective C–O bond formation. Now peptide-mimic phosphonium salts enable atroposelective nucleophilic aromatic substitution-driven C–O bond construction, affording axially enantioenriched diaryl ethers.