Organic molecules nitrogen-rich

The aza-Diels-Alder reaction is an important and versatile tool for the preparation of nitrogen-containing heterocycles present in numerous natural products and drug candidates. It involves the [4 + 2] cycloaddition of either an imine with an electron-rich diene or an azabutadiene with an electron-rich alkene (inverse electron demand). Catalytic asymmetric variants employing not only metal complexes, but also organic molecules were disclosed over the last few years. 

The chemistry of boron-nitrogen compounds is extremely rich and varied, and much of the evolution of this field derives from attempts to obtain compounds both electronically and stmcturally comparable with well-known organic molecules. In addition, a great deal of effort has been devoted to establishing reactivity parallels between the isoelectronic/isostructural organic and inorganic compounds. Some known isoelectronic/isostractural compound pairs are summarized in Figure 1. 

Nitrogen is a key component of amino acids. The atmosphere is rich in nitrogen gas (N2), a very unreactive molecule. Certain organisms such as bacteria that live in the root nodules of yellow clover (photo at left) can convert nitrogen gas into ammonia. Ammonia can then be used to synthesize first glutamate and then other amino acids. [(Left) Runk/ Schoenberger from Grant Heilman]... 

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