An organocatalytic strategy for the synthesis of tetrasubstituted pyrrolidines with monoactivated azomethine ylides in high enantiomeric excess and excellent exo/endo selectivity is presented. The key to success is the intramolecular activation via hydrogen bonding through an o-hydroxy group, which allows the dipolar cycloaddition to take place in the presence of azomethine ylides bearing only one activating group. The intramolecular hydrogen bond in the azomethine ylide and the intermolecular hydrogen bond with the catalyst have been demonstrated by DFT calculations and mechanistic proofs to be crucial for the reaction to proceed.

The photocatalyzed synthesis of sulfoxides from alkenes and thiols has been carried out using Eosin Y.

An organocatalytic system is presented for the Michael addition of monoactivated glycine ketimine ylides with a bifunctional catalyst. The ketimine bears an ortho hydroxy group, which increases the acidity of the methylene hydrogen atoms and enhances the reactivity, thus allowing the synthesis of a large variety of α,γ‐diamino acid derivatives with excellent stereoselectivity.

BODIPY as an EWG in asymmetric catalysis is presented.

The activation of molecules through intramolecular hydrogen-bond formation to promote chemical reactions appears as a suitable strategy in organic synthesis, especially for the preparation of chiral compounds under metal and organocatalytic conditions. The use of this interaction has enabled reactivity enhancement of reagents, as well as stabilization of the chemical species and enantiocontrol of the processes.