This review covers the recent advances in the synthesis of enantiomerically pure hydroxylamines employing nitrones as starting materials. Nucleophilic additions of organometallic reagents to nitrones are the most common way for introducing a hydroxyamino group into carbon skeletons with the concomitant formation of a new carbon-carbon bond. Addition of carbanions derived from enolates, cyanide or fluorinated derivatives allow the preparation of complex structures. Radical additions and, in particular samarium diiodide-mediated reductive coupling of nitrones with carbonyl compounds and α,β-unsaturated esters have also been considered. All these approaches provide efficient methods of preparation of enantiomerically pure hydroxylamienes that are valuable synthetic intermediates.
KeywordsHydroxylamines; Nitrones; Organometallics; Mannich; Reductive coupling 2 Graphical Abstract 3