Improvement of Asymmetric Reactions via Remote Electronic Tuning of N‐Heterocyclic Carbene Catalysts

Aminoindanol‐derived N‐heterocyclic carbene catalysts have been widely used to achieve highly enantioselective reactions. Recently, substitution at the indane moiety of the catalysts has been found to have a great impact on the outcome of some reactions, even though the substituted position is distant from the carbene catalytic center. Especially, the introduction of an electron‐withdrawing group improves the yield and enantioselectivity. This review provides an overview of recent reports on the improvement of N‐heterocyclic‐carbene‐catalyzed asymmetric reactions by introducing electron‐withdrawing remote substituents.