In recent years, there has been a plethora of publications on asymmetric syntheses and enzymic methods leading to fluorine-containing chiral compounds. This review, based on a detailed survey of recent literature, focuses on compounds of interest in bio-and medicinal chemistry, e.g., amino acids, anticancer agents, sugars, nucleosides, central nervous system agents, and anesthetics. Methods involving asymmetric aldol reactions, asymmetric alkylation, enantioselective fluorinating agents, and enzymically controlled reactions are presented. Bioactive fluorine-containing compounds have been known since the 1930s and 1940s, but the remarkable developments of the 1950s, including the fluorosteroids, inhalation anesthetics, such as halothane, and the anticancer agent 5-fluorouracil, heralded the subsequent rapid advances we have witnessed during the ensuing forty years.During the past decade, there has been an increased emphasis on new approaches to chiral compounds and asymmetric syntheses. This focus has been particularly pronounced in medicinal chemistry, where a specific enantiomer or diastereomer often exhibits enhanced therapeutic potency compared with the racemate. Organofluorine compounds have played a significant role in these advances. An earlier report emphasized a range of methods for the synthesis of chiral bioactive fluoroorganic compounds (1). Since the intent of this paper is to provide an overview which captures the scope and flavor of these recent developments, it seems quite appropriate to briefly cite the fascinating range of research studies of the other contributors to this book.Bravo and co-workers report asymmetric syntheses of fluoroalkylamino compounds via chiral sulfoxides and the stereoselective synthesis of β-fluoroalkyl-β-amino alcohol units using chiral sulfoxides and the Evans aldol reaction. Bégúe and colleagues discuss the stereoselective and enantioselective synthesis of trifluoromethyl amino alcohols and fluoroalkyl isoserinates. Hoffman reports the aysmmetric fluorination of α-aminoketones, while