Recent Advances in Catalytic Systems for the Mechanistically Complex Morita-Baylis-Hillman Reaction

Since its discovery in the late 1960s, the Morita-Baylis-Hillman (MBH) reaction has remained a powerful carbon- carbon sigma-bond-forming transformation, producing small polyfunctionalized molecules. While commonly catalyzed by Lewis basic organic molecules such as tertiary amines and phosphines, several advances in functional catalysts and reaction conditions have been made in order to improve the reaction rate, substrate scope, and enantioselectivity. The goal of this Review is to give an updated summary of the main improvements made in catalytic systems for the MBH reaction over the past decade until nowadays. We hope this account will instigate further investigations in order to circumvent the remaining challenges of this fascinating transformation.