Organocatalytic Asymmetric [4+2] Cycloaddition Reactions

Organocatalytic asymmetric reaction is an increasingly active area in organic synthesis. The asymmetric [4 + 2] cycloaddition (Diels-Alder) reaction is a versatile tool for the synthesis of a large number of important chiral building blocks and intermediates in the total synthesis of natural products. The reported organocatalysts for asymmetric Diels-Alder reaction include imidazolidinone derivatives, chiral Bronsted acids, chiral primary amines, cinchona alkaloids, etc. The applications of various organocatalysts in asymmetric Diels-Alder reaction and the asymmetric induction mechanism are reviewed in this paper.