Perspectives on Intermolecular Azomethine Ylide [3+2] Cycloadditions with Non-Electrophilic Olefins

Our interest in the synthesis of compact nitrogen heterocycles from abundant sources has motivated a critical analysis of the status in azomethine ylide chemistry. Despite the outstanding developments in catalytic enantioselective [3+2] cycloadditions, these are still limited to electron-poor olefins. Only a few examples can be found in the literature that report on cycloadditions using non-electrophilic alkenes and those are compiled herein. With this account we aim to extract lessons and challenges that will inspire future breakthroughs in this area