Pull‐Pull Alkenes in the Aza‐Michael Reaction

Abstract Aza‐Michael addition is known to be one of the most exploited reactions in organic chemistry. Taking into account the fact that each seventh reaction in pharmaceutical industry involves the formation of at least one C−N bond, it is not surprising that this reaction is especially valuable for the synthesis of bioactive compounds and drugs. Traditionally, only push‐pull alkenes are regarded as starting material for this reaction. The participation of pull‐pull alkenes as Michael acceptors is much less studied. The presence of two vicinal electron‐withdrawing groups makes them highly reactive in nucleophilic reactions especially with nitrogen‐centered nucleophiles. This feature allows them to be excellent building blocks in the synthesis of bioactive molecules and polyfunctional materials. The review considers the most important and sometimes unexpected results obtained over the last two decades on the conjugate addition of nitrogen nucleophiles to pull‐pull alkenes bearing various acceptor moieties (alkoxycarbonyl‐, carbonyl‐, formyl‐, cyano‐, trifluoromethyl‐ or nitro group) in various combinations. magnified image