Catalytic asymmetric strecker reaction: Bifunctional chiral tertiary amine/hydrogen-bond donor catalysis joins the field

Bifunctional chiral tertiary amine/hydrogen-bond donor catalysis has recently emerged as a powerful strategy for developing catalytic asymmetric Strecker reactions for the synthesis of various types of optically active α-amino nitriles, useful as versatile building blocks for the synthesis of value-added products such as α-amino acids, 1,2-diamines, or heterocycles. This short review discusses the advantages of this strategy, summarizes recent advances, and describes the synthetic opportunities that remain open. 1 Introduction 2 Tertiary Amine/Hydrogen-Bond Donor Catalysis of Asymmetric Strecker Reactions 3 Summary and Outlook.