Design of acid-base catalysis for the asymmetric direct aldol reaction

Proper design of acid-base catalysis has been shown to be effective for achieving high reactivity and selectivity in the asymmetric direct aldol reaction during the development of diamine-Brønsted acid types of catalyst. In this study, two principal approaches have been implemented to create a new type of catalysis and high catalytic efficiency: one is the creation of a highly viable acidic function within acid-base catalysts; the other is the creation of rather complicated but more cooperatively arranged hydrogen-bond networks that would be expected to stabilize a transition state, thereby promoting new reactivity and selectivity.