A chiral benzoylthiourea-pyrrolidine catalyst for the highly enantioselective Michael addition of ketones to chalcones

A benzoylthiourea-pyrrolidine catalyst was developed for the asymmetric Michael addition of ketones to chalcones. The corresponding products were obtained in high yields with high level of diastereoselectivities (up to 99:1 dr) and high level of enantioselectivities (up to 94% ee) under mild conditions.