Progress in Asymmetric Organocatalytic Synthesis of β‐Lactams

Abstract

AbstractThe success of the application of transition‐metal catalysts in asymmetric synthesis was recognized in the form of the 2001 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, but since then the field of asymmetric organic synthesis has been dominated by organocatalysts, due to their ability to catalyze a variety of fundamentally important transformations. One example is the Staudinger synthesis of β‐lactams, which continue to provide unique opportunities for the design and synthesis of new derivatives with unprecedented biological profiles. During the last two decades, medicinal chemists have convincingly demonstrated that structural modification of monocyclic β‐lactams (monobactams) is an effective procedure for the discovery of new pharmacological properties other than antibacterial activity. This microreview covers the progress in asymmetric organocatalytic synthesis of β‐lactams since 2001, including the initial work on processes based on chirally modified transition‐metal catalysts, because these have led the way to the more significant advances presented here.