Diarylprolinol derivatives in organocatalysis from another point of view: structural aspects

Abstract

The synthesis of complex active molecules has afforded the search for new methods and new processes in organic synthesis. In this context, organic metal free catalysis has appeared as a powerful tool being complementary to metal catalysis in the field of asymmetric synthesis. The success of this methodology has been increasing in the last decade and the research for new organocatalytic systems as well as new applications has attracted the interest of many research groups. Among all organocatalysts, diarylprolinol derivatives have emerged as powerful scaffolds for asymmetric catalysis, proof of that is the huge number of publications reported using this kind of structure as catalysts. However, only in a few cases, different aspects of the catalysts structures and additional additives have been largely studied and a plausible explanation has been given. In this sense, this review treats to illustrate these important and scarce examples and to give a very general vision relating to the application of diarylprolinol derivatives in organocatalytic transformations from another point of view: structural aspects. The influence of catalyst structure, electronic effects, and the use of additives will be the aim of discussion and comment in this work.Financial support was provided by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (postdoctoral fellowship to E. M.-L.), and the Aragón I+D Foundation for a permanent contract, Ministry of Science and Innovation (MICINN, Madrid, Spain. Project CTQ2009-09028) and the Government of Aragón (Zaragoza, Spain, Project PI064/09) (R. P. H.).Peer Reviewe