Document incorrectly classified as a dissertation on title page (decision to classify as a thesis from NDSU Graduate School) / Organocatalysis is a field that has bloomed over the last decades. With the field’s promise of being able to mimic nature and afford products in a synergistic manner to traditional Lewis acid catalysis, several interesting discoveries have been made. Owing to the vastness of the field as it exists today, this document will focus on two main aspects; cinchona alkaloid (and derivatives) as used in common carbon-carbon bond forming reactions and kinetic resolution via 4-dimethyl aminopyridine-N-oxide derivative driven acylation. Kinetic resolution via organocatalysis has the potential to react one enantiomer of a racemic mixture without affecting the other. The highlight of this screening was an s factor of 9 which was produced using optimized conditions using a catalyst designated DMAPO-IV. There remains much to do in improving the system and elucidating the scope of this catalytic system this report details the efforts made thus far.