Michael Addition of Imidazole to α, β -Unsaturated Carbonyl/Cyano Compound

Introduction: Aza-Michael addition is an important reaction for carbon-nitrogen bond formation in synthetic organic chemistry. Expalantion: Conjugate addition of imidazole to α,β -unsaturated carbonyl/cyano compounds provides significant numbers of the biologically and synthetically interesting products, such as β -amino acids and β -lactams, which have attracted great attention for their use as key intermediates of anticancer agents, antibiotics and other drugs. Conclusion: This review addresses most significant method for the synthesis of N-substituted imidazole derivatives following Michael addition reaction of imidazole to α,β -unsaturated carbonyl/cyano compounds using ionic liquid/base/acid/enzyme as catalysts from year 2007-2017.