This Focus Review highlights recent developments in the organocatalytic enantioselective synthesis of -lactone derivatives. Owing to the importance of -lactones as a heterocyclic motif that is present in a variety of natural products and biologically active molecules, several catalytic methods have been developed for the synthesis of these compounds in their enantiomerically pure form. Organocatalytic methods that employ N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs), cinchona alkaloids, isothioureas, 4-dimethylaminopyridine (DMAP) derivatives, and phosphines have allowed the highly enantioselective synthesis of -lactones from cheap and readily available starting materials. Moreover, the inherent strain in the four-membered ring of -lactones has also been utilized in further synthetic transformations, thus making -lactones a versatile intermediate in organic synthesis.

Foreign