N-acylhydrazones as versatile electrophiles for the synthesis of nitrogen-containing compounds.

The use of N-acylhydrazones as electrophiles in reactions with nucleophiles has recently made some important advances. N-Acylhydrazones, which can be readily prepared and stored, act as stable imine surrogates in these reactions. The hydrazide products are useful, often chiral building blocks which can be transformed into various nitrogen-containing compounds by cleavage of the N--N bond. The N-acyl groups often play important roles as templates for metal catalysis in controlling stereochemistry. This Minireview summarizes the most recent results of N-acylhydrazone chemistry, and provides an overview of current developments in this field.