Asymmetric hetero-Diels-Alder reactions of carbonyl compounds

This review is intended to update the most recent developments in asymmetric hetero-Diels-Alder (HDA) reactions of carbonyl compounds, covering the literature from 2000 to 2008. The reactions of unactivated aldehydes, activated aldehydes, activated ketones and the inverse HDA reactions of α,β-unsaturated ketones and α,β-unsaturated aldehydes are successively investigated. This review clearly demonstrates the power of asymmetric HDA reactions of carbonyl compounds for the construction of chiral six-membered oxygen-containing heterocycles, with extensive synthetic applications in natural or unnatural products with a wide range of biological activity.