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1,3-Dipolar cycloaddition reactions (DCR) are atom-economic processes that permit the construction of heterocycles. Their enantioselective versions allow for the creation of up to four adjacent chiral centers in a concerted fashion. In particular, well-defined half-sandwich iridium (III) catalysts have been applied to the DCR between enals or methacrylonitrile with nitrones. Excellent yield and stereoselectivities have been achieved. Support for mechanistic proposals stems from the isolation and characterization of the true catalysts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]