One-Pot Asymmetric Synthesis of Substituted Tetrahydrofuransviaa Multicatalytic Benzoin/Michael/Acetalization Cascade

Abstract

A sequential benzoin/Michael/acetalization tandem reaction catalyzed by NHC and amine together has been developed to assemble aromatic aldehydes and enals into chiral tetrahydrofuran derivatives bearing multiple functional groups and stereogenic centers with high stereoselectivity of up to 95:5 dr and 96% ee. The high yield and stereocontrol of this process may be due to both acid-promoted symmetrization of racemic acyloins and iminium ion activation of enals.