Heterocyclic structural architectures occur in many bioactive natural products and synthetic drugs, and these structural units serve as important intermediates in organic synthesis. This Account documents our recent progress in the development of cascade reactions to construct complex carbocycles and heterocycles. We describe the rational design of cascade reactions and in-depth investigations of their mechanism as well as their applications in the synthesis of drugs, natural products, and related molecular analogs.Relying on knowledge about th...