Recent development in preparation reactivity and biological activity of enaminoketones and enaminothiones and their utilization to prepare heterocyclic compounds

Enaminoketones and esters are gaining increased interest, particularly cyclic-beta-enaminoesters, which are known as important intermediates for the synthesis of heterocycles and natural products, because the enantioselective preparation of highly functionalized compounds is of central importance in synthetic chemistry. Enaminones are versatile synthetic intermediates that combine the ambident nucleophilicity of enamines with the ambident eletrophilicity of enones. Enammoketones and enaminonitriles have proven to be versatile building blocks for the synthesis of various heterocycles such as pyridine, pyrimidine and pyrrole derivatives. Enaminones systems have enone character, and may act as acceptors in both 1,2 and 1,4-additions. In this way the enaminone serves as a scaffold for annulation, and can gain access to systems such as pyrroles indolizidines, quinolizidines and perhydroindoles, all of which are common motifs in alkaloid structures. Enaminones are frequently employed as building blocks for the preparation of a variety of bicyclic compounds of biological interest and have been recently recognized as potential anticonvulsant compounds. Since a large number of developments in the use of enaminones in heterocyclic synthesis have occurred, a review of the recent developments in the synthetic approaches, covering the literature since 1995 until 2004, to these interesting molecules and their useful chemical transformations and biological activity can be considered of considerable value.