Weak Nucleophiles in the Aza‐Michael Reaction

Abstract The 1,4‐conjugated addition of nitrogen centered nucleophiles to electron‐deficient alkenes is one of the most significant and widely used reactions in modern synthetic organic chemistry. To date, various protocols for the aza‐Michael reaction have been developed. However, these reports mainly focus on the use of strong Michael donors. In recent years, the conjugate addition of weak nitrogen nucleophiles to various Michael acceptors gained increasing popularity. Impressive progress in this area has been achieved by the use of more efficient catalyst systems. This review aims to provide a critical analysis of the results obtained in reactions of weak nucleophiles (azoles, pyrroles, indoles, carbamates, purines, amides, hydrazides, uraciles etc ) with electron‐deficient alkenes which were reported over the past twelve years.