Catalytic asymmetric synthesis of 3,3-disubstituted oxindoles: diazooxindole joins the field

The catalytic asymmetric synthesis of 3,3-disubstituted oxindoles, a big family of privileged scaffolds in natural products and drugs, is of current interest. Recently, the catalytic asymmetric functionalization of diazooxindoles emerges as a potentially general and flexible strategy for this purpose, with several notable examples coming out in 2013. In this digest, synthetic applications of diazooxindoles have been summarized and discussed, which might be helpful for readers to understand the special properties of this type of donor/acceptor cyclic diazo reagent and to develop new catalytic asymmetric reactions.