Recent advances in the asymmetric synthesis of pharmacology-relevant nitrogen heterocycles via stereoselective aza-Michael reactions.

The prevalence of nitrogen containing heterocycles in natural products and pharmaceuticals is a doubtless fact. In this review, recent applications of a stereoselective aza-Michael reaction as an efficient tool for the asymmetric synthesis of naturally occurring nitrogen-containing heterocyclic scaffolds and their usefulness to pharmacology are reviewed and summarized. The available data are for the first time classified according to types of heterocyclic products and subdivided in accordance with synthetic methodologies used as key stereocontrolling steps (diastereoselective or enantioselective reactions, single bond-forming or cascade reactions, etc.). This classification is convenient for organic chemists and for researchers working in the areas of natural product synthesis and medicinal chemistry. Specific attention is paid to organocatalytic asymmetric versions of the aza-Michael reaction developed over the past decade.