The Principle of Vinylogy as Applied to Heterocyclic Donor Systems

Vinylogy and the reactions inspired by this principle occupy a rewarding position in the arsenal of chemical transformations. This review celebrates this principle, as applied to three enabling carbon-carbon bond formations, the aldol, Mannich, and Michael reactions. Highlighted are those reactions involving heterocyclic vinylogous nucleophilic or pro-nucleophilic candidates, through which myriad of multifunctional molecular frameworks and targets could be synthesized. In this review, we mainly discuss investigations focusing on furan- and pyrrole-based donors, which appeared in the literature during the 2010-2012 triennium.