Discovering New Reactions with N-Heterocyclic Carbene Catalysis

摘要

Inspired by advances in our understanding of biological processes, new reactions employing organic molecules as catalysts have grown significantly over the last two decades. In the broadest of terms, the most successful of these catalysts can be classified either as Bronsted acids, hydrogen-bond donors, or Lewis bases. Each of these catalytic manifolds activates substrates in biological settings and provides an inspiring blueprint to create smaller, synthetic versions of these impressive biocatalysts. Lewis base catalysis is presently an exciting area of research and encompasses a wide variety of strategies to initiate both established and new chemical processes.