Enamine Catalysis Is a Powerful Strategy for the Catalytic Generation and Use of Carbanion Equivalents

The chemistry of preformed enamines, especially their use as enolate equivalents, has been a well-investigated area of research since the early 1950s. However, enamine catalysis, the catalysis of carbonyl transformations via enamine intermediates by using primary and secondary amines as catalysts, has only been fully appreciated as a powerful strategy for asymmetric synthesis since the beginning of this century. Contributions from this laboratory to the revitalized interest in asymmetric enamine catalysis are summarized in this Account.