The last decade has witnessed enormous growth in the spectrum of highly efficient asymmetric synthetic transformations. One prominent example of this progress is the application of dirhodium (II) carbenes generated from diazo- precursors. Innovative construction of ‘designer’ catalysts has played a integral role in extending the breadth of the synthetic cascade of non-racemic products now available through the range of cyclopropanation, C-X insertion, aromatic cycloaddition-rearrangement, and ylide-based reaction types. This review deals briefly with an overview of the important catalytic systems and maintains as its primary focus the cascade of diverse optically enriched products that flow from their applications.

The last decade has witnessed enormous growth in the spectrum of highly efficient asymmetric synthetic transformations. One prominent example of this progress is the application of dirhodium (II) carbenes generated from diazo- precursors. Innovative construction of ‘designer’ catalysts has played a ...