Abstract : Since the first report by Evans in asymmetric Friedel-Crafts reactions, the use of acyl-imidazoles has blossomed as powerful ester/amide surrogates. The imidazole scaffold indeed displays stability and special activation features allowing both better reactivity and selectivity in traditional ester/amide functionalizations: -(enolate chemistry), -(conjugate additions), -(cycloadditions) or -(vinylogous). An overview of the contemporary and growing interest in acyl-imidazoles in metal-and organo-catalyzed transformations (bio-hybrid catalytic systems will be fully described in a back-to-back Minireview) will be highlighted. Moreover, post-functionalization expediencies are also going to be discussed in this Minireview.
J. Lauberteaux, D. Pichon, O. Baslé, M. Mauduit, R. Marcia de Figueiredo, et al.. Acyl-Imidazoles A Privileged Ester Surrogate for Enantioselective Synthesis. ChemCatChem, Wiley, 2019, 11, pp.1-9. ⟨10.1002/cctc.201900754⟩. ⟨hal-02181832⟩
