Enamine-Based Aldol Organocatalysis in Water: Are They Really “All Wet”?

摘要

Organocatalysis is a burgeoning field of organic synthesis that employs substoichiometric amounts of an organic compound to accelerate a reaction.[1,2] Recent advances in organocatalysis include a wide range of reactions and often enable asymmetric induction in organic solvents. In particular, the aldol reaction is a key Cbond-forming reaction that has tremendous synthetic utility and is often the platform of choice to examine new organocatalysts. Naturehas perfected the stereospecific aldol reaction by using aldolase enzymes.