title: Recent advances in catalytic, enantioselective alpha aminations and alpha oxygenations of carbonyl compounds.
abstract: The direct introduction of either a nitrogen or oxygen atom adjacent to a carbonyl group in a catalytic, enantioselective manner using both chiral Lewis acid and Lewis base catalysis has been described recently. The enantiomerically enriched products of these reactions, such as alpha-amino acids, represent fundamental building blocks for the construction of complex natural products and other important bioactive molecules. This Minireview provides a synopsis of this ever-growing field and highlights some of the challenges that still remain.
authors.affiliation: Department of Process Research, Merck Research Laboratories, Merck & Co., Inc. P.O. Box 2000, Rahway, NJ 07065, USA. jacob_janey@merck.com
authors.forename: Jacob M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Janey
mesh_terms: D000586:Amination; D002264:Carboxylic Acids / Q000737:chemistry*; D002384:Catalysis; D007094:Imides / Q000737:chemistry; D007659:Ketones / Q000737:chemistry*; D015394:Molecular Structure; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D010100:Oxygen / Q000737:chemistry*; D013237:Stereoisomerism
chemical_list: D002264:Carboxylic Acids; D007094:Imides; D007659:Ketones; D010100:Oxygen