Asymmetric Catalytic Reactions of Donor–Acceptor Cyclopropanes.

Due to the synergistic "push–pull" effect of vicinal electron‐donating and electron‐withdrawing groups, donor–acceptor (D‐A) cyclopropanes have been recognized as one of the most powerful building blocks to generate polyfunctional reactive intermediates after a strain‐driven ring cleavage. Enantioselective reactions of D‐A cyclopropanes provide an efficient approach to enantioenriched acyclic and cyclic compounds. A number of chiral Lewis/Brønsted acids, transition metals, and organocatalysts have been designed for such transformations, including ring‐openings, annulations, and rearrangements. This minireview highlights the developments and new advances in this field and describes new synthetic opportunities offered by these interesting methodologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]