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Over the last decade the potential for N,N-dialkyl(thio)urea derivatives to serve as active metal-free organocatalysts for a wide range of synthetically useful reactions susceptible to the influence of general acid catalysis has begun to be realised. This article charts the development of these catalysts (with emphasis on the design principles involved), from early "proof-of-concept" materials to contemporary active chiral (bifunctional) promoters of highly selective asymmetric transformations.
Stephen J. Connon (Fri,) studied this question.