The usefulness of a recently developed reaction, the intramolecular Michael addition, can be improved in order to show enantioselectivity, report chemists at the Australian National University in Canberra. 

Martin Banwell and his colleagues have prepared a series of pyrroles with electrophilic groups connected to the nitrogen, and studied their ability to undergo intramolecular conjugate addition by using chiral substrates, auxiliaries and/or catalysts. For the first time asymmetric induction has been shown in such a reaction, and the group is already planning ahead: 'our efforts are now focused on using such methods for the enantioselective construction of quaternary carbon centres' note the authors.

Stephen Wilkes