Recent advances in the Baylis-Hillman reaction and applications

A review of the Baylis-Hillman reaction involving the coupling of activated alkenes with electrophiles is given, showing that the reaction has become one of the most powerful and useful carbon-carbon bond-forming reactions, providing a variety of densely functionalized molecules. In addition to tertiary amines, originally reported in the patent, various other catalysts/catalytic systems have been successfully employed for coupling of activated alkenes with electrophiles during the last several years, thus increasing and demonstrating the scope for further discovery of new catalytic sources. Furthermore, several activated vinylic systems and electrophiles with different substitution profiles have been successfully utilized over the years in this fascinating C-C bond-forming reaction.