in this review the development of new organocatalytic methodologies for the asymmetric synthesis of small heterocycles, namely epoxides, cyclopropanes and aziridines will be illustrated. This topic covers our research, carried out in the last eleven years, using bifunctional organocatalysts derived from the chiral pool. The authors will highlight the challenges as well as the evolution on the catalyst structure necessary to overcome the limits of reactivity and stereocontrol, encountered during the research. This "catalytic evolution" has been always observed in catalysis and it can be easily traced back to what has been happening in the fascinating and rapidly evolving area of asymmetric organocatalysis. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.