Recent Trends in the Development of Novel Catalysts for Asymmetric Michael Reaction

Michael reaction is the nucleophilic addition of active methylene compounds to conjugated olefins, resultantly affording a variety of biologically active scaffolds with high enantiopurity. To improve the reaction yield, as well as enantioselectivity of the product, a variety of catalysts (amine-based catalysts, bifunctional L-proline amides, bifunctional squaramides, chiral ionic liquids, cinchona alkaloids, enzymes, indolinols, metal catalysts, peptide derived catalytic system, phase transfer catalysts, pyrrolidine based organocatalysts) have been investigated by a different era of chemists. Besides this, different methodologies have been developed to improve reaction yield and enantioselectivity of the targeted products with low catalyst loading. This review article provides a concise overview of the catalysts applied recently by different scientists in the Michael addition reaction. Moreover, current strategies and potential applications of this reaction have also been illustrated in this review.