Synergistic Catalysis with Azomethine Ylides

Azomethine ylides are useful intermediates for the rapid construction of chiral N‐containing compounds. However, its synthetic potential has not been fully developed due to the limited reaction models. In combination with synergistic catalysis and azomethine ylide chemistry, we have developed several types of novel catalytic system including Cu/Pd, Cu/Ir and PTC/Ir catalysis, which can convert readily‐available azomethine ylides to various high‐valued molecules such as unnatural α‐amino acids, homoallylic amines and N‐heterocycles. Compared with the traditional mono‐catalysis, the synergistic catalyst system exhibits enhanced catalytic efficiency and chiral induction ability in many cases. In addition, we have demonstrated that these strategies could be applied in the construction of bioactive compounds and natural products.