Organocatalytic asymmetric reaction is an increasingly active area in oraganic sythesis. Asymmetric Strecker reaction is a powerful tool for the synthesis of α-amino acids. The reported organocatalysts for asymmetric Strecker reaction include chiral guanidines, chiral (thio)urea derivatives, N-oxide compounds, chiral Brønsted acids and so on, which can catalyze the asymmetric Strecker reaction with high catalytic activity and excellent enantioselectivity. The applications of various organocatalysts to asymmetric Strecker reactions are reviewed in this paper. The catalytic activity and the asymmetric induction influenced by the structure of organocatalysts and the reaction condition are also discussed.

Key words: enantioselectivity, asymmmetric Strecker reactio, organocatalysis