Catalytic Asymmetric Additions of Carbon‐Centered Nucleophiles to Nitrogen‐Containing Aromatic Heterocycles

Nearly a century after the first report of the Reissert reaction the first catalytic, asymmetric example was published. Since then there have been a small number of reports of similar reaction types: activation of nitrogen‐containing aromatic rings through alkylation or acylation, followed by the addition of a carbon‐centered nucleophile to the ring. These reactions place great demands on catalyst design; many of the catalysts are bifunctional, simultaneously activating both nucleophiles and electrophiles. The structures obtained from such reactions may easily be derivatized into natural products or drug‐like structures. Despite the elegance of the known examples, there are still many reaction types that have not been reported.