Enantioselective catalysis and complexity generation from allenoates

Lewis base catalysis of reactions with allenoates using phosphine and amine nucleophiles has emerged as a key platform for the generation of molecular complexity. Investigations in this area have established a range of suitable coupling partners for allenoates, including electron-deficient olefins, imines, and aldehydes. This tutorial review will describe these methodologies, with a special emphasis on recent work regarding asymmetric reactions using chiral Lewis base catalysts.