Exploiting Remarkable Reactivities of Ynamides: Opportunities in Designing Catalytic Enantioselective Reactions

Ynamides consisting of an electron-withdrawing group on the nitrogen atom have proven to be powerful and versatile building blocks that are involved in a variety of useful chemical transformations. Nonetheless, their utilization in asymmetric catalysis is still in its infancy and has only recently attracted the attention of the synthetic organic community. The focus of this review is to present an overview on the exciting results achieved thus far in the field of asymmetric catalytic reactions of ynamides with an emphasis on the advantages, limitations, mechanisms, and applications associated with current approaches. In addition, a personal outlook on the challenges and limitations that need to be overcome in this area is also given at the end.