Asymmetric domino Michael–Henry reaction of 1,2-diones with nitroolefins catalyzed by a chiral bisoxazolidine–Ni(acac)2 complex

The asymmetric domino Michael–Henry reaction of 1,2-cyclohexadione with nitroolefins catalyzed by chiral ligand bisoxazolidine 1 and Ni(acac)2 has been developed. This process provided highly functionalized chiral bicycle[3,2,1] octane derivatives with the generation of four new stereogenic centers in high yields (76–99%), and with excellent enantioselectivities (up to 99%) and good diastereoselectivities (up to 9:1) under mild reaction conditions. The procedure presented is simple and makes this method suitable for practical use.

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