Featured Application:The adhesion between aggregate and bitumen is crucial in asphalt pavements and has a strong influence on the service time of the road. Thus, the addition of adhesion promoters is gaining importance, particularly with regard to emerging and more sustainable technologies for asphalt production, which aim to reduce the working temperature, save energy, and guarantee the safety of specialized personnel. The present work offers an overview on physical and chemical properties of most common types of adhesion promoters currently used in asphalt industry and tries to build a bridge between scientific research and technological application.Abstract: This review focuses on certain classes of organic compounds known variously in the specific literature of asphalt as adhesion promoters, antistripping agents, wetting agents, antistrips, or adhesion agents. These kinds of organic additives are currently formulated to enhance the bitumen coating of mineral aggregates and improve the workability of asphalt mixtures. In this review, the term "adhesion promoters" includes both synthetic organic compounds as well as those extracted from natural resources, mixed in trace amounts to bitumen. Their main role is to alter the interfacial energy, so that the presence of water, even in trace, does not weaken the bitumen-aggregate bond and tends to favor adhesion. The report also considers the chemical functionalities that play a predominant role in bonding, as well as the effects of surface modification of the aggregate due to the presence of adhesion promoters in pre-blended bituminous mixtures. Although bitumen is widely used in road pavement construction and the discussion is mainly addressed to the improvement of adhesion in road materials, adhesion and wetting properties can also represent a general issue in various bitumen-based industrial products.