Morita-Baylis-Hillman (MBH) reactions between conjugated nitroalkenes or nitrodienes and various carbonyl compounds such as glyoxylate, trifluoropyruvate, pyruvaldehyde, oxomalonate, ninhydrin, and formaldehyde have been extensively investigated. The reactions proceeded smoothly in the presence of DMAP (40-100 mol-%) in acetonitrile and in some cases also in that of imidazole (100 mol-%) in CHCl 3 or THF, to provide the multifunctional adducts in good to excellent yields. The reactions catalyzed by DMAP in acetonitrile were superior to the imidazole-catalyzed reactions both in terms of the rate of reaction and in terms of the isolated yields of the MBH adducts. The catalytic roles played by DMAP and imidazole in these reactions, vis-à-vis other MBH cata-